Justice Teens
by kh2narutofan
Summary: A series of short stories detailing the early tales of the JLA. Set in a slightly-AU with the JLA as teens and stories inspired by me and fellow Tumblr user cakechoz.
1. First Meeting (Bruce)

**Chapter Summary: After another altercation at school, Alfred decides to send Bruce to public school where he could learn to socialize with other kids better. Along the way, he meets a certain Kansas farm boy who looks familiar to a blur he saw in Gotham one night.**

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><p><strong>First Meeting (Bruce)<strong>

It was a quiet night out in Gotham. The streets were empty and covered in litter as usual. Police sirens rang through the city as crimes occurred throughout the block. I was sitting in my study, having just returned from my regular patrol.

On my laptop, I was scanning through surveillance footage to see if there was anything unusual happening. Tonight was a slow night. Besides a couple thugs breaking into a building, nothing was going on throughout Gotham. Staring at the screen for the past hour, my thoughts were interrupted as Alfred called my name.

"Master Bruce!" Alfred said sternly. It wasn't quite a yell, but it was loud enough to catch my attention. "I received a call from the head of the school again. Did you get into _another_ altercation with a student?"

I sighed. "Yes, Alfred. I did."

"You know that this kind of behavior is unacceptable in school, right?" he said, closing my laptop. "As the Batman, it would be different. But as Bruce Wayne-"

"The guy was picking on a little kid. What was I supposed to do?!" I snapped.

"I suppose, reasoning with him would have been a better option?"

"People like him can't be reasoned with, Alfred. People like him only listen to violence."

"Perhaps so, but it doesn't give you the right to act out like that," Alfred sighed. "Since you have gotten yourself in so much trouble with the school, I have taken the liberty of switching you into public school."

I furrowed my brow at him. "Why would you need to do that? I don't need to go to school, I need to be Batman."

"Well for one, you really do need to make some new friends. Second, I think you need to work on your 'Bruce Wayne' persona; you're very out of touch with the times."

"_I'm_ _not going," _I asserted. I gave him a stern glare, but he kept a straight if unimpressed face.

"Master Bruce, I have served in the SAS for a number of years and I have also changed your diapers when you were a baby. If you really want to intimidate me, you're going to have to try harder than that." I relaxed my glare and slumped my shoulders in defeat. I couldn't argue with him on that and plus he never let me get away with anything either. Looking at my posture, he took that as a sign of acceptance. "You'll be starting next Monday. I'll pack your supplies for then," Alfred said as he left the room.

As the door closed, I plopped back into my armchair and reopened my laptop to check for any last minute things happening in the city. Flipping through the cameras, I stopped on footage showing a mugger holding up a man. He had a gun pressed up against his chest and demanded for his wallet. Suddenly, a blur swept through the alley, leaving just the would-be mugging victim in confusion. There was no sign of the mugger anywhere.

Stunned by what I just saw, I rewinded the footage over and over again to sink in what just happened. Slowing it down, I tried to zoom on the blur and get a closer look at it. I managed to capture what looked like a face and focused the image to get a better look at it. It looked a teenager, no older than 17 or 18 with black hair and striking eyes. He had a cape on and what looked like a giant S on his chest.

I ran him through a facial recognition program, but nothing came up. I searched him up and saw that there were several sightings of him in the past month. Seems like he only appeared just recently. Witnesses described him as a flying man with super strength and impossible speed. The "Red-Blue Blur", they dubbed him.

Studying this mysterious man for a little while longer, Alfred called me to go to bed. I filed this under "miscellaneous cases" and left wondering how such a man is capable of such feats.

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><p>"What are we doing in the middle of Kansas, Alfred?" I asked.<p>

"Well, since private school and the big city life seemed too troublesome for you, I figured a small town in a nicer area will do you well, Master Bruce."

"But what about Gotham? And Batman?" I asked worriedly.

"The GCPD will have everything under control for the time being. With Lieutenant Gordon being promoted to Chief of the Police Department, Gotham will be in good hands until your return. As for the Batman, just in case you want to frolic around town dressed as a bat, I've packed your costume and gear as well." Oh, Alfred and his reassuring words…

As I looked out the car window, all I saw were vast fields and farmhouses here and there. We passed through the small town and went over a bridge. We drove a few more miles finally reaching our destination.

"Where exactly are we?" I asked. In front of us was an average-sized house with crop fields surrounding it. Behind it, I saw a farmhouse and an old, beat-up truck.

"We are in Smallville, Kansas, to answer your question. I've contact a lovely woman who was willing to house you for the semester. I only pray that she has the same amount of patience as me to deal with you."

"Very funny," I responded flatly.

"I try," the butler smirked. We got out the car and approached the door. A few knocks on the door and we were greeted by a woman. She had brown hair, looked to be about in her early to mid-40's and she was wearing jeans, a tucked-in shirt and an apron.

"Hello. Can I help you?" she asked, leaning on the door frame with a hand on her hip.

"Yes, Mrs. Kent. I am Alfred Pennyworth and I'm here to drop off Bruce."

"Oh my, you must be Bruce Wayne!" she said with a smile. "Here, call me Martha."

"Nice to meet you… Martha," I said hesitantly. She has the same name as my mother…

"Is something the matter, Bruce?" she asked in a concerned tone.

I shook my head and put my 'Bruce Wayne' persona back up. "Um, no. It's just that you have my mother's name. You kinda look a bit like her too…"

"Oh dear, I heard about what happened to your parents years ago! How are you holding up?"

"I'm doing fine, thank you," I said, forcing a smile.

"You know, now that you mention it Bruce, _you_ look a lot like my own son."

"Really?" I asked skeptically.

"Yeah, down to the black hair and blue eyes. In fact, here he comes right now!" Martha said. I looked behind me, I saw a teenage boy getting out of a car and heading towards the house. I faintly heard him yell behind him "Thanks for the ride, Pete! See ya, Lana!" as the car drove away.

"Bruce, Alfred, this is my son, Clark," Martha introduced us. Clark had scruffy black hair and blue eyes just like his mother described. He was wearing jeans, sneakers and an unbuttoned red flannel with a white shirt underneath and a messenger bag slung over his shoulder. He also wore big-rimmed glasses, coupled with a meek but friendly smile, that gave him somewhat of an innocent appearance.

"Clark, say hello to Mr. Wayne and Mr. Pennyworth," his mother commanded.

"Mr. Pennyworth," Clark said politely, shaking his hand firmly.

"Pleased to make your acquaintance, Master Kent."

"Mr. Wayne." He reached out his hand to shake mine, to which I complied. Pretty strong grip for a guy like him. His face though, it looked strangely familiar…

"Please, call me Bruce," I told him, to which he nodded in response.

"Clark, why don't you show Bruce to his room?" Martha said to her son.

"Sure thing, Ma." The two of us headed back to the car to get my stuff while Alfred and Martha went inside to converse. Clark took half of my luggage while I took the other half into the house. Again, pretty strong for a guy like him since all of those bags are heavy. Then again, he lives on a farm so he must do a lot of heavy lifting.

We headed upstairs into the guest room and dropped off all of my things. "Do you need help unpacking, Bruce?"

"It's fine, Clark; I'll unpack later," I replied. The farm boy nodded in response and took off his glasses to rub his eyes. While he did so, I got a better look at his face. Wait. That face. I thought it looked familiar! His face looked exactly like the Red-Blue Blur! Could this guy… possibly be that blur I saw in Gotham a few nights ago…?

"Um, Bruce? There something wrong?" Clark asked. I realized that I'd just been staring at him for these past few moments.

"Oh, um, nothing," I scrambled. "You just got a little something on your face."

"Oh," he responded rubbing his face. "Is it off?"

"Yeah. Look Clark, I'll talk to you later, okay? I just wanna get settled in real quick."

"Sure thing. See you at dinner," Clark said before leaving the room. As the door closed, I sat down on the bed and booted up my laptop. I marked his file as 'solved', but I only raised more questions. What's his motive for being here? How is he capable of all these feats? Looks like I'll need to keep a closer eye on him for the time being.


	2. Just a Regular Day (Clark)

**Chapter Summary: On Bruce's first day of school, Clark is here to help. Along the way, quite a few things happens to add a twist on a seemingly regular day...**

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><p><strong>Just a Regular Day (Clark)<strong>

It was nice having a new friend around, especially one from the big city. To be honest, the things around Smallville were getting a little dull and repetitive so having Bruce around kinda shook things up a bit. I mean, not that there's anything wrong with Smallville; it's a great place but- oh Clark, you're rambling again…

"So Smallville really lives up to its name, huh?" Bruce commented on the drive to school.

"It might not be as big or as fancy as Gotham is, but it sure is a nice town," Ma said. "Everybody knows each other and is really friendly, so don't feel like you're out of place here, okay Bruce?"

We showed up about a half-hour early so I could show Bruce where all of his classes were. "You two boys have fun, and don't get into any trouble!" Ma shouted. We waved goodbye to her as she drove off in the truck. We should really get that fixed one of these days.

"Okay, Bruce, let's see your schedule," I said. He pulled a piece of paper out of his bag and handed it to me. I scanned through it and showed him the way to his classes. _Pre-calc first period… English second… Econ third… _I guided him to where all of his classes were and showed him where I sat at lunch.

"And this is where I usually eat during lunch." The tree farthest from the cafeteria, near the gate and the football field. "Think you can remember all that?"

"I can manage," Bruce said, taking another look around the school. "Thanks, Clark."

"Yo, Clark!" a voice called out. I turned around to see a blond-haired boy with a red-headed girl locking arms with him.

"Pete, Lana," I smiled. "How're you guys doing?" Pete came first to hug me and Lana came up right after.

"Nothing much, man," Pete replied. "Just finished morning football practice. Man, it was _intense_."

"You alright?"

"A little sore, but nothing that'll bench me," he smirked.

"How about you, Lana?"

"I'm doing well, Clark," she replied. She peered over to my side to see Bruce. "Say Clark, who's your friend right here?"

"Oh, uh, guys. This is Bruce Wayne. He's gonna attending Smallville High with us for the semester," I introduced.

"Well, it's certainly nice to meet you, Bruce!" Lana started getting giddy and ran up to Bruce to shake his hand.

"Um, it's nice to meet you, um, Lana?" Bruce chuckled.

"Yep, Lana Lang. That's my boyfriend, Pete, over there." Pete just gave a polite nod.

"Well, it's nice to meet some of Clark's friends. He certainly is quite an _interesting_ fellow." Bruce quickly excused himself to go to class as the first bell rang.

Once he left, Lana gave me a light slap on the arm. "Clark! Why didn't you tell us you knew _Bruce Wayne_?"

"Well, I wasn't sure myself that he would be staying with me, let alone attending Smallville High with us," I answered.

"_Staying with you?!_ Omigosh, what's he like? He is so much more handsome than he looks in the tabloids!" As Lana kept gushing on about Bruce on the way to class, I glanced over to Pete, who looked a little uncomfortable.

"Don't worry, Pete. It's not like Bruce is going to steal Lana away from you," I reassured him.

"I'm not sure, Clark. I mean, the guy has the looks _and_ money. Girls must be swooning over him for sure."

"Well, not that I've noticed. Don't worry, you're the ace of Smallville High; star quarterback, full scholarship ride to Kansas University, and Homecoming King, too. What's there to worry about?" I nudged his arm, trying to make him feel better.

"Yeah… but playboy _millionaire_ from the big city. How do I compare to that?"

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><p>The first three periods rolled by as usual and now it was time to enjoy some lunch. I sat by the usual spot and unpacked my lunch bag, waiting for my friends to show up. Let's see, turkey sandwich… apple… chips… and a Coke. Hmm, not bad.<p>

I took a bite into my sandwich just as Bruce showed up. "Hey, Clark."

"Hey, Bruce," I greeted, quickly swallowing the bite. "You don't mind the food Ma packed, do you?"

"I've had better, but nothing beats something as plain and simple as this," he said, opening his bag of chips. "So Pete and Lana seem like nice people."

"Yep. We've all known each other since we were little kids."

"Hmm. That's a long time," Bruce noted, taking a bite out of his apple. "So are they coming here as well?"

"Well, Pete's meeting with the football coach to talk about plans for the Homecoming game. And Lana's hanging with some other friends today, I think."

"I see." Bruce finished his bag of chips and moved on to his sandwich. "Mmm – _mmph! _Clark, I've got to say, this is better than most of higher end foods I've eaten in Gotham. Your mom needs to give Alfred the recipe."

I chuckled at him enjoying his foodgasm. "Just some whole wheat bread, turkey slices, mayo and lettuce, and you're good," I said, patting his back. "Oh, and a little bit of love as well."

"Well speaking of love, I saw you look at Lana a certain way this morning, when she and Pete came up to us." My smile disappeared and my expression changed to a look of nervousness and concern. "Do you have a thing for her?"

"Well, er- n-not exactly," I stammered.

"Let me guess: she only saw you as a friend and went for Mr. Star Quarterback instead?"

"Quite the opposite actually," I sighed.

Bruce raised an eyebrow at me. "Really? How so?"

I scratched my neck and gathered my thoughts. "Well, a few months ago, Lana and I were studying after school at my house. We were all by ourselves and as it turns out, she really liked me. For a long time, actually. So when we turned to look at each other, she leaned in and kissed me."

"And then what?" Bruce asked. I popped open my can of Coke, took a sip and finished off the sandwich before continuing.

"Well… I told her that I didn't feel the same way about her and she got really hurt. Gosh, Lana must have felt so stupid after that. She really thought that I liked her back, too. Then a month later, she got together with Pete."

Bruce listened intently, nodding his head. "So why the look?"

"I'm just afraid that Pete might be just a rebound guy; someone that she jumped to in order save her feelings." I ran my hand through my hair, feeling guilty about what happened that while ago.

I felt Bruce's hand rubbing my shoulder. "Well, despite what's happened between you guys, it's not your fault. It's in the past and you should move on forward. If Pete really turns out to be the rebound guy, I hope that if Lana does realize if that's the case, things could work out."

"Thanks, Bruce," I smiled. "You know, you're not bad. I half-expected you to be a bit more spoiled or snobby when you came here. No offense."

"None taken."

"Now enough about me, . How about we talk about you now?"

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><p>The final bell rang and school was out. Kids flooded out of the school rushing into their cars and driving home. Pete, Lana and I agreed to walk to the general stores to grab some snacks before Ma came to pick us up.<p>

I waited for my two best friends and Bruce near the front entrance before heading off. The trip there was pretty fun and interesting, too. We joked around, talked about what happened in school, and Bruce told us about life in Gotham.

"I wouldn't say Gotham is a bad place to live, but if you don't like a crime-infested city, it's probably not for you," Bruce said.

"Gosh, how do you live in such a place like that?" Lana asked.

"Well, I mean, I've lived there for a majority of my life, so I guess I just manage."

While they were talking, I just had my head in the clouds. The sky was clear today, so maybe I could practice flying today. Eh, but then people might see me… I wonder how far I could fly up until-

_Wham!_

Something just struck my face. It didn't hurt, but it did take me by surprise. I fell onto the ground, my papers everywhere, and I was kinda dazed.

"Clark!" Lana was the first to be at my side and Bruce and Pete helped me back up on my feet. Lana picked up my glasses and put them back on my face as I looked around to see what hit me. A basketball. As soon as I saw it, I had a feeling about who it was…

I looked across the street to see a group of boys laughing at us. One ginger-haired kid stood out in particular…

"I thought your mom said everyone in this town was friendly," Bruce said.

"Well, there's always that one bad apple…"

"Hey, Kent! Get your head in the game!" the boy sneered.

"Who's that?" Bruce asked.

"Kenny Braverman. If I had to guess, he threw the ball," I answered. "Just keep walking."

The four of us tried to move away from the jocks, but they ran across the street and surrounded us. "Going somewhere, Kent?" Kenny said.

"Come on, Kenny, just leave me alone."

"Aw, what's wrong, Kent? Ma need you home to bake some apple pie?" he snickered. He shoved me against the wall and snatched my glasses away from me.

"Come on, give those back." I tried to reach for them, but he kept it out of my reach.

"Alright then. Fight me," Kenny challenged me. "You win, I give 'em back."

"No," I gritted through my teeth. As much I wanted, and I wanted to _so bad_ just to teach him a lesson, I knew I would crush him. Pete then stepped in to defend me.

"Would you back off, Kenny? Give Clark his glasses back!" A couple of the other jocks shoved Pete against the wall as soon as he stood up to him.

"Beat it, Ross! This is between me and Kent! Unless you want your ass kicked with him!" the bully threatened. "So what's it gonna be, Clark?"

I stood there, upset and unsure of what to do. Kenny always picked on me before, but nobody does that to my friends! Think, Clark, think…

"Braverman." Wait, Bruce?

"What do you want?" Kenny spat.

"Oh, nothing. Just thinking about your name; how ironic it is that you're named 'Braverman' yet all I see is a dirty coward picking on people who're minding their own business." Bruce, what are you doing?

"And who the hell are you supposed to be?!"

"Bruce Wayne. At your service," he replied with a hint of smugness.

"Oh, you're that rich boy from Gotham," Kenny said, getting up into Bruce's face. "You're bodyguards aren't here to help you, so don't be stupid."

"Don't need their help here. Besides, looks who's talking." Kenny's face turned red and his face scrunched into a fuming glare. Fortunately, Pete got in between the two before something could happen.

"Alright, Kenny, just let this go," Pete said. He then turned to Bruce and whispered, _"Bruce, what are you doing?"_

"This punk wants to fight and I'm gonna give it to him," Bruce replied.

"Are you crazy? There's like six of them and one of you. Even if me and Clark helped out, I don't think we'd get out in one piece."

"Trust me, Pete, I've fought worse in Gotham. Compared to them, these knuckleheads are a bunch of toddlers." Immediately, Kenny pushed Pete out of the way to face Bruce again.

"Alright boys, time to teach rich boy here what happens when he messes with us," he said cracking his knuckles.

Suddenly, Bruce grabbed Kenny by his shirt and gave three quick punches to his face. One of the jocks came around and grabbed Bruce from behind while another charged him from the front. The Gotham boy jumped up and kicked the charger in the chest and head-butted the guy holding him from behind, freeing himself. Turning around, he grabbed the dazed guy by his hair and slammed him head first into a nearby wall.

With down, Bruce ran towards the guy who was charging him and clotheslined him, taking him down easily. Two more jocks ran towards Bruce to grab him. So he kicked one in the crotch and struck the other on the side of his neck. With the first guy kneeling over, Bruce kneed him in the face before dropping his elbow on his back, knocking him down. With the other, Bruce simply span around and roundhouse kicked him in the face, knocking him out cold.

The last jock, like everyone else before him, stupidly charged Bruce. As he got closer, the Gotham kid crouched, grabbed onto the guy's torso and used his momentum to flip him over behind him. As soon as he landed, Bruce turned around and stomped on his face.

All me, Lana, and Pete could do was just stare in awe as he did all of that. He took them all down like they were nothing! I heard Bruce got transferred here for fighting, but I never would've thought he was that good at fighting!

While the three of us were stunned silent, Bruce turned to look at Kenny, who was on the ground holding his bruised cheek. With a flat tone and unimpressed face, he said, "Well, that was disappointing. I guess you really are all bark and no bite."

Bruce turned and walked towards us. Kenny quietly got up and ran towards Bruce with a raised fist.

"Bruce, watch ou-!" Lana shouted, but before she could finish, Bruce just backhanded him without even looking. Kenny dropped like a rock and was out cold. Looking down on the ground, he picked up my glasses, surprisingly still intact and handed it back to me.

"Well, he won't be picking on you for a while."

"Er- thanks, Bruce," was all I could manage out. I was still stunned about what just happened.

"Hey guys, I'm really sorry that you had to see that," Bruce said sincerely. "Here, are we still up for snacks? It's on me."

All unanimously agreeing, we quickly left the unconscious boys on the grass. Now even though I'm against fighting and all that… that was awesome! It was so satisfying seeing Kenny getting taught a lesson! You know, Bruce, I was wrong about you. I thought you would be just some spoiled brat that didn't care about anybody else but himself, but you're not. I'm really looking forward to getting to know you better now.


	3. Three's a Crowd (Clark)

**Chapter Summary: On a Saturday night, Clark is looking forward to a relaxing evening. However, the arrival of a foreign girl might mess up his plans just a bit...**

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><p><strong>Three's a Crowd (Clark)<strong>

Ah, there's nothing more relaxing than a Saturday night in Main Street. The plaza was illuminated by the store signs and streetlights. I finally got around to fixing the old truck at Frank's Auto Repair and now it's in better shape than before. The stuttering stopped, there was no delay when you started it up, and the tires got replaced with more durable ones. As a bonus, Frank resprayed it and added a nice red paintjob to cover up all the rusts and scrapes.

"_Aaand_ that should do it," Frank told me, closing the hood.

"Thanks, Frank! I really appreciated this."

"No worries, Clark. I'll just send you the bill, alright?"

"Got it. You have a good one." I drove the newly repaired truck around the plaza and parked it in front of Freddy's Diner. I texted Bruce if he needed a ride, but he said that he has his own. Walking inside the diner, I took a big whiff. The smell of freshly grilled burgers and fries was in the air and it was one the greatest scents in the world.

I walked over to one of the barstools and grabbed a menu. "Hi there, darling. How're you doing?" the waitress said.

"Hmm… I'll have the quarter-pounder with a side of fries and a vanilla shake, please," I replied.

"Alrighty then. Will that be all?"

"Yes, ma'am." She finished writing down my order and left to give it to the fry cooks. Sitting patiently, I scrolled through my phone for texts from anybody. None from Ma, Bruce, Pete, Lana...

"Excuse me?" a voice said, tapping my shoulder. I turned around to see- Whoa. Behind me was a very beautiful-looking girl. She had jet black hair that was slightly wavy and very pretty blue eyes. She was wearing black yoga pants, sandals, and a leather jacket with a red tank top underneath. She also had two silver bracelets on both of her wrists. Her full red lips also complimented her youthful face and her body looked so-

"Is this seat taken?" she asked, pointing at the chair next to me. Realizing that I was oogling at her, I backtracked as quickly as possible.

"Er- n-no, of course not," I stuttered. Smooth one, Clark. "Do you want to sit down?" _Of course she wants to sit down, dummy, she asked if the seat was taken!_

"That would be nice, thank you," the girl replied, flashing me a friendly smile. She sat down and set her bag and a rope on the counter. I tried to play it off cool while trying to hide my blush. While she was shuffling through her bag, I tried to focus on other things, but my eyes kept on going back to her. She stopped shuffling and then looked at me.

"You're blushing, aren't you?" she pointed out.

"No." I denied immediately. The girl gave me a cheeky grin as I blushed even harder.

"I see that you are admiring me," she giggled. "You don't have to deny it."

"Uh…"

"In fact, I have never met a man that was intimidated by me before. Usually, they try to flirt with me or impress me in the most pathetic ways…" There was a brief pause where I kinda shifted uncomfortably. "My name is Diana."

"Oh, uh, I'm Clark." I reached a hand out to shake hers. Diana just stared at it for a moment before quickly grabbing it and shaking it.

"My apologies, I'm new to this place," she laughed meekly.

"I've noticed," I replied. "Say, that's quite some stuff you're packing. Planning to go on an adventure or something?"

"You could say something like that," Diana replied. "Are familiar with the area by any chance?"

"Yeah, I've lived here all my life. Why?"

"Oh, because I am looking for someone here." She pulled a picture out of her bag and showed me. "Have you seen this man here recently?"

I looked at the photo closely. It was a man with slicked back hair and a goatee. He was wearing and suit with the top button of his shirt unbuttoned and no tie. He also had scars over his left eyebrow, cheeks, and jaw. Coupled with a scowl, it gave him a sinister look.

"I'm sorry, I haven't seen him anywhere here," I shook my head. "Who is he?"

"'Ares Buchanan' is what he goes by."

"Why are you looking for him?"

"That… is none of your concern."

"Oh. I see." I tried to change the subject. "Where are you from by the way?"

"Themyscira."

"Wait, where?"

"Themyscira. Home of the Amazons."

"You mean… like the Greek Amazons?"

"Yes."

I chuckled a bit at that. "And who exactly are you supposed to be?"

"I am Princess Diana of Themyscira. I have been sent here to Man's World to endorse peace and equality among men and women and to rid it off Ares, the God of War's, influence," Diana said proudly. All I could do was just stare at her blankly. Is she really serious?

"Heh, yeah, and I'm actually an alien named Kal-El from the planet Krypton," I chuckled in response. Wait. _Why did I just say that?!_

"_Really?"_ she leaned in in interest.

I put my foot in my mouth and tried to backtrack as much as I could. "Pfft, no! I-I was just being sarcastic." Nailed it.

"You cannot lie to me. I know what you said," Diana smirked. I felt so flustered. I could feel the heat rushing to my face and I looked around for some kind of escape. _Why am I screwing up so much in front of her?!_

"And here you go, sonny," the waitress said, delivering my food. "Hey, you two lovebirds better calm down." She turned to Diana and said, "Go easy on him; the boy gets nervous around pretty girls." _I do not!_

Diana nodded as the waitress left. "Well then, 'Clark', do you mind watching my belongings for a moment?" I nodded quickly, trying to compose myself. As she got up to use the bathroom, a familiar voice called out.

"God, Clark, that was a train-wreck if I ever saw one," Bruce commented.

"Um, how long were you standing there for?" I asked nervously.

"Enough to see you trip on your words and light up like a Christmas tree," the Gotham boy replied. "Man, I could feel the second-hand embarrassment coming off of you."

"Shut up…" I pouted. That encounter and me accidently spilling out my secret made me lose a bit of my appetite. I took a knife and cut my burger in half and offered some to Bruce.

"You know, I could talk to her when she comes back. Maybe I'll fare better and hopefully I could gather up whatever's left of your dignity," Bruce laughed, taking a bite out of the quarter-pounder.

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><p>The two of us finished our halves of the burger by the time Diana came back. "I am back," she said. The girl looked next to me and saw Bruce. "Hello there."<p>

"Hey," Bruce flashed his flirty playboy smirk. His eyes scanned her from top to bottom and he seemed silently awestruck. "Clark, why don't you introduce me to your friend here?"

"Okay, uh, Diana. This is Bruce. Bruce, this is Diana."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Bruce."

"It certainly is nice to meet to meet you too, Diana." The girl squinted her eyes at us, darting a look back and forth between the two of us.

"Just curious, are you two brothers?" she asked. Huh. That's a first.

"No, Diana. We're just friends," I answered. "Bruce is from Gotham and he's living with me for the school semester.

"Interesting," Diana said. "I have heard of you before, Bruce. I hear that your family is one of the richest families in Gotham, is that correct?"

"Yeah, you are right, Diana."

Diana bit her lip and smirked. "Well Clark, you certainly are a very interesting person, aren't you?"

"Oh, you have no idea," I answered, taking a drink out of my shake.

"Say, Diana, I noticed that you have a slight accent," Bruce commented. "Are you Greek?"

"Yes, I am. How did you guess?"

"I've met a few Greek girls in the past. It's just something I notice."

Diana opened her mouth to say something, but she stopped and looked out the window. She seemed alerted by something. "Well, it was very nice meeting the two of you, but I have to leave now." She grabbed her stuff and walked towards the door. "Goodbye, Clark. Bruce."

As soon as she left, I sighed in relief and embarrassment. I usually had no problem talking to girls, but Diana was a different case. There was something about her…

"Well, isn't she something?" Bruce said. "I've never seen a girl like her before." Same here, Bruce, same here…

Suddenly, my super-hearing picked up something going on across the street. I heard grunting and yelling off in the distance. "Hey, Bruce you want the rest of my fries? I need to take care of something real quick."

"Um, sure. What do you need to take care of?"

"Uumm, I need to check on the truck. See if there are any more kinks to work out."

"You want me to come? I do know a thing or two about cars-"

"It's fine," I interrupted. "It'll just be real quick." I got up, threw a $10 on the front register and exited the diner. Looking around the empty street, I quietly ran across and hid behind a corner near the alley where I heard the noise. I peeked over to see a big bald man in a coat. He was holding Diana against the wall by her neck.

"I see you have come to me, Princess. This was easier than I thought," the man spoke in a deep voice.

"I sensed a dark presence here, so I came," Diana said, struggling to break free. _"Where is Ares?"_

"Do not fret, young one," he smirked. "You will be meeting him soon."

"Clark, what are you do-"

"_Sshh!" _I hushed at Bruce. I didn't pay attention to the fact that he followed me; I was more concerned about what that guy was going to do with Diana.

"Now, be a good child and come with me," the man demanded. Diana just spat in his face and gritted her teeth.

"I take no orders from men like _you_." He responded by punching her in the stomach.

"HEY!" I shouted, turning the corner. "You leave her alone!"

The guy turned to look at me and gave a menacing look. "This is none of your concern, child. I suggest you leave before you get hurt."

"Well it becomes my problem when you pick on people who can't defend themselves," I challenged. "Now pick on someone your own size!" The guy just chuckled at me. I mentally prepared myself just in case a fight was to happen. But next thing I knew, I was a couple feet in the air with a hand around my throat. I didn't even see him coming!

"Clark!" Diana yelled. _"Release him."_

"As you wish," the guy smiled evilly. Then he threw me into the air. I felt the rush of wind as the town grew smaller and smaller. I heard Bruce and Diana faintly yelling my name as I went higher into the air. This guy was definitely not normal.

I ripped my shirt off and removed my pants, shoes and glasses to get into costume. To be honest, Ma could've made a better design, but it'll have to do. Regaining my balance, I floated in the sky and scanned back to where the guy threw me. Locating where they were, I saw Bruce and Diana fighting him off. Bruce looked pretty beat up, but Diana barely had a scratch on her. So I flew at super-speed towards them.

I was back there in less than a few seconds. I tackled the man hard enough to send him flying towards the wall. His back hit the wall, but it didn't seem to do anything; just made him madder. I turned to Bruce and told him to run. He looked at me for a moment, nodded, and then ran out of the alley.

I turned towards Diana and yelled, "You need to get out of here, too! Don't worry, I can take him!"

"No, you can't!" she shouted back. She then started twirling in a circle. A light illuminated over her as she kept on spinning. When it faded, Diana was now decked out in some kind of armor. A crimson leather top with a golden eagle spread across her chest, a navy blue skirt with stars at the end of each flap and a golden belt with an overlapping "W" emblem. On her belt were a sword and that rope she was carrying around, which started to glow. There was also a golden tiara with a red star on her forehead, and the sandals she was wearing sprouted wings from its sides.

"You will need my assistance to defeat this monster!" Uh… _wow_. This girl is just full of surprises.

"Alright. We need to get him away from town, try to prevent any casualties," I told her. Diana nodded and unhooked the rope from her belt. She threw it around the guy, who was starting to change. His eyes glowed a bright red and black veins spread around his face.

Diana lifted him up into the air and took him to a field far away. I held him as he struggled to break free. Once we were clear, we dropped him. The drop left a big crater into the ground and dust was everywhere.

"_**DAUGHTER OF HIPPOLYTA! YOU DIE TONIGHT!**_" a demonic voice boomed out. When the dust cleared, the man had transformed into something monstrous. He was now twice the size he was before. His skin turned a dark gray tint and he grew fangs and pointed ears. His clothes were all gone except for a loincloth.

Diana drew her sword and rushed towards him. That beast tried swinging at her, but she gracefully dodged and avoided all of his attacks. She struck and slashed at his arms, legs and chest. I couldn't really tell if it was fazing him or not.

He raise both his arms to slam Diana, so that was my cue to dive-bomb him. I knocked him down and started pounding away at his face. But then he grabbed me by the cape and flung me off. Regaining my balance, I flanked him from behind as Diana continued attacking from the front. As I got close though, I ended up getting backhanded instead.

Alright, forget fists. I focused my sight onto that thing. Heat poured out from my eyes and struck his face. Sweet, he's distracted! Flying in close, I blew cool air at him. Eventually, his body was covered in thick ice and he stopped moving.

I turned to Diana and asked, "Are you alright?"

"I've fought worse demons, but I appreciate the help," she responded.

"What is that… _thing_, anyways?"

"One of Ares' minions. Must be one of his stronger ones, but not by much."

"So what do we do with him?"

"Simple. We relinquish this evil spirit," Diana said, raising her sword.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. You mean you're just gonna kill him?" I stopped her. "Isn't he still human?"

"He _disguised_ himself as a human," she corrected me. "Whatever humanity this monster has is gone." Suddenly, I saw a light coming from that beast. It was coming from his mouth. Seconds later, he burst from the ice, fire shooting out.

It blinded me for a moment, then I felt my head being grabbed. I saw Diana running to help me, but she got punted away. I felt pressure being applied to me, my head being crushed by this monster. That thing opened his mouth and I felt heat hitting my face as flames formed in his mouth. But before he could melt my face off, I heard the sound of a motorcycle coming towards us.

I peeked to the side to see the light of the bike getting closer and closer to us. Whoever was riding it jumped off and hid in the cornfields as the bike headed straight for the demon. It, however, crushed it like a leaf and then starting lighting the fields on fire. Something shiny flew out from the walls of corn and struck him in the eye. The beast let go of my head and I stumbled away and watched the rest of the fight unravel.

The fires illuminated the figure that saved me. It rolled around and dodged all of the beast's attacks while throwing more of those blades at him. Pulling something from his waist, it shot a couple of wires at his chest and electrocuted him. Then he threw some pellets into the monster's mouth, covering it in some sort of putty and prevented him from breathing more fire.

Seeing an opportunity, I ran up to the beast and uppercutted him as hard as I could. Diana followed up and cut its head clean off. Its body and its head quickly turned into a thick black mist and fade away. I took in a deep breath and blew the surrounding area to clear the air and the fire. I then turned around to confront Diana and the mysterious figure.

Now that I was up close, I got a better look at whoever this guy was. The moonlight gave a faint outline of him and I worked out a dark suit and cape. He also had pointed ears and white eyes. I squinted a bit harder and saw an exposed mouth.

Diana raised her sword at him and I clenched my fists, preparing for another fight, but he just raised one hand at us. "Relax, I'm on your side." His voice was a mixture between a whisper and a growl with a distorted undertone to it.

I've heard stories about a guy that look like that… is that…? "Batman?"

"So you've heard of me," he responded. "I take it you're the Red-Blue Blur?"

"Well, I don't prefer that name…" I needed to come up with a better name; the ones that the public gives are just terrible…

"Well, regardless of who you are, I am grateful for the assistance," Diana cut in, sheathing her sword. "You two have incredible abilities, and you are great fighters as well."

Batman nodded in response, turned around and disappeared into the cornfields. I X-rayed to see where he went. He was gone. I scanned around the rest of the field for him. Nothing. He was gone. How did he do that?

"Well, Kal, thank you for your help," Diana said. "You are a noble man and a warrior."

"I don't know what-"

"Please, Kal, don't try to lie to me," she interrupted. "When you touched my Lasso of Truth, you revealed to me your identity." _So is that why I blurted out my secret?_ "And while I may be new to Man's World, I am not naïve. I recognized your face, even without your glasses. It will take more than that to fool me," she smirked.

"Well then… I guess it's been nice meeting you, Diana," I said, rubbing the back of my neck. I reached a hand out to shake hers, which she complied this time. "Is there a chance I might see you again?"

"Hmm… we will see." Diana turned around and walked towards the opposite direction. "If you want to see me again, just say my name," she said, tapping her ear. "I can hear your no matter where you are." With that, she flashed me one last smile and the wing on her sandals started to flap. And then she was gone, a gust of wind blowing past me.

Well, I guess that's one way that's one way to spend a Saturday night…


	4. Closure (Hal)

**Chapter Summary: After an altercation with his estranged brother, Hal decides to face his past and find closure for his father's death.**

* * *

><p><strong>Closure (Hal)<strong>

_BRRRIIIINNGG!_

Ah, the sweet sound of the release bell on a Friday afternoon. About time, I was gonna fall asleep in this any minute now. All the other kids packed up and rushed out the door while I waited for my two good friends in the back: Miss Jillian Pearlman and Tommy Kalmaku.

"Hey there, Highball. Did you enjoy the lecture?" the Texas girl asked me.

"Of course I did, Cowgirl. In fact, I enjoyed it so much, I almost fell asleep," I replied, which got a laugh out of her. "What about you, Tommy; did you like it?"

"Well, history isn't always the most interesting, but it was okay, I guess," he shrugged. "So Hal, any plans for your birthday?"

"Oh, you know, hang out with you guys, get together with my _beautiful_ girlfriend, and if I have time, hit the airfield."

"Hmm. Sounds like a plan." The three of us walked down the hall to meet up with Carol. _Ah, there she is…_

I snuck up behind her and gave her big hug and a kiss from behind. Setting her back down, I expected a smile and a kiss back, but all I got was a frown and an angry look. "Carol?"

"_Don't_ talk to me," she replied coldly. She passed by Tom and Jill, giving the two of them a small smile before heading towards the exit. Geez, what did I do this time?

I ran after her and caught her just as she got to the flagpole. "Hey Carol, Carol! Is something the matter?"

She turned around and looked me dead in the eye with a scowl on her face. "_What's the matter, Hal?_ Gee, I don't know, do you remember what we planned last Sunday?"

"Uhh…"

"We had a _date_ last Sunday. And what did you do? You completely blew it off!" Carol yelled at me. "You didn't call or let me know ahead of time that you weren't gonna show. No, you just stood me up and left me at the diner for an hour, Hal Jordan!"

Oh, she was mad. "Look, something came up and I guess it just slipped my mind-"

"Just slipped your mind?! _How could you forget your three-month anniversary with your own girlfriend?!_"

Uhh… crap. I looked behind me and signaled for Tom and Jill to back me up, but they both just back off and looked away awkwardly. Well, this isn't good. "So what? Does this mean we're off again?"

Before Carol could answer that, a familiar voice called my name. "Hal!"

I turned to see my little 10 year-old brother jogging up to me with a wrapped gift in his hand. "Happy Birthday, Hal!"

"Jim! It's great to see you!" I said, hugging him. "It's been a while. How've you been?"

"Been doing well. I couldn't forget my big brother's birthday." Ah, man, I love this kid. He's been the closest family I've got since the family fell apart. He looks up to me and I could never let him down.

"Hey there, Carol," Jim said to my girlfriend. Or is it ex?

"Hi Jim!" the black-haired girl greeted, putting a smile on her smile and sounding as friendly as possible.

"You look nice today."

"Thank you. Hey, you look a little different. Did you get new glasses?"

"Yes, I did," Jim answered enthusiastically. My little bro also said hi to Tom and Jill while I sensed another presence nearby. Approaching us was a man in his mid-20's with combed hair and flat look on his face.

He looked as though he didn't want to be here. He was also waiting for Jim to hurry up so they could leave. Oh, how could I forget… "Jack," I greeted my older brother.

"Hal."

"Come here to say happy birthday to your baby brother?" I smirked.

"I have nothing to say to you, Hal."

"A 'hi' would be nice too, y'know…" Rolling his eyes, Jack told Jim to give me my gift so that they could go. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, what's the rush? It'd be nice for the two of us to catch up."

"After what you did to mom? I doubt it." Oh, here we go…

"Jim, why don't you wait in the car? Jack and I need to talk for a bit." Looking at us with a worried expression, he gave me his gift and reluctantly walked towards Jack's car. "C'mon, Jack, I thought we were over this."

"It was your recklessness that caused her to get sick. Everything she told you not to do, you did the exact opposite. It stressed her out and you know what? I had to support the whole family while you were out doing God-knows what!" Jack ranted. _"What have you done to help our family at all?!"_

"Tom, hold this real quick," I asked him, handing over Jim's gift. "Well, Jack, let's see," I started, "After you left for law school to 'become the District Attorney,' you didn't really talk to the family for a few years. In that time, when I found out that mom had cancer, I quit ROTC to cause her less stress, I stopped going to the airfields, and I got a _job_ to support her and Jim because she was too sick to work. I drove Jim to school every day, helped him out with his homework every night, and took him to all of his events and supported him." Finally, I retorted with, "_And you say I don't care about our family?!"_

"It's only after all that is when you finally learned to take responsibility!"

"_And what's the thanks I get for that?!_ You take Jim away from me, refuse to let me see mom on her deathbed, and disown me from the family!" I yelled. A small crowd started to look at us as we argued, but I couldn't care less. "The house got taken away too, so I had to live in my car for three weeks until Tom let me live him! I worked overtime at the café just to make enough money for food for those three weeks! Thank God the owner let me have some leftovers!" My yelling started to turn into screaming. "_Do you have any idea how I felt?!"_

"Well, karma's a bitch, ain't it?!" Jack yelled back. "And you know what, dad would've been disappointed in the man you are now!"

That's it. That's what set me off. I threw punched him at his face as hard as I could. I heard Carol screaming my name in shock, and Jill and Tom holding me back before I could do worse things to him. How dare he bring up dad like that?! It took a few seconds but I managed to calm down. Slowly looking around, I saw the crowd with various looks directed at me, mostly of shock and surprise.

Getting back up and recomposing himself, Jack just scoffed, "You're never gonna grow up, are you Hal?"

I've had enough of this crap. I shook off my friends' grip and stormed through the crowd to my car. I started it up and floored it out of the parking lot. So much for making things up…

* * *

><p>It was a quiet night. I was back at Ferris Aircraft for the first time in months. This place brings back so many memories. All the times I skipped school just to see dad fly by in his jet, where I was when the ring chose me, and the day-<p>

I sighed as I sat in the hangar full of wrecked planes. In the far end was dad's old plane. The metal was bent, burnt and rusted, the paint was chipping off, and the whole thing was a crumpled mess, really. I remember that day like it was yesterday.

I was eight years-old. It was a big day that day where Carl Ferris was showing off his newest jet model. Dad was the test pilot for it.

It was also the day where I met Carol. He told me to hold onto his jacket for him. While he was zooming by, Carl was next to me with his daughter, checking with dad to make sure everything was running smoothly. She told me that jacket looked too big for me. I told her I was holding it for my dad, who was flying the jet. She said that her dad _owned_ that jet and that one day, she'll be flying one of them. That's when we formally introduced ourselves to each other.

But something went wrong. I heard dad radioing in that there was a leak or something. Carl brushed it off as nothing and told him to keep flying. Then the end of the plane started smoking and catching fire. It started descending quicker and quicker until _BOOM!_ The plane hit the ground and exploded. Gasps and screams radiated throughout the audience. The air crew rushed out to the crash site to put out the flames and to see if dad was okay. All I could do was stare at the wrecked plane as everything around me went to hell. I knew he was gone.

I looked at the jacket I was wearing right now. My father's jacket. I always wondered if he was scared out of his mind right before he hit the ground. I always convinced myself he wasn't, and so I set out to be a man without fear to honor him. Guess that's why I turned out so cocky…

Then, I thought back to earlier this afternoon when I had that argument with Jack. I realized how our family fell apart after dad died. It was all Carl's fault. He knew there was something wrong with the plane, but he didn't do jack about it. For ten years, I've always blamed him for dad's death. I bet he doesn't even care that he died; he just wanted money. You know what, I'm gonna get this off my chest. I going to face to him and give him a piece of my mind.

* * *

><p>I flew to Carol's house and landed in a secluded spot about a block away. Checking to make sure no one was around, I got out of uniform and started walking towards her house. I disguised my ring as a silver band with the saying "This too shall pass" in Hebrew. For one, people wouldn't think much of it than if it were my actual Green Lantern ring. Second, it looked exactly like the ring mom gave me for my <em>bar mitzvah<em>. While Jack and Jim leaned more towards being Catholic like dad, I took after mom and was more Jewish. It was a shame I had to sell the real thing in order to feed myself.

I showed up to her front porch and rang the doorbell. After a few moments, Carol opened the door, dressed in a purple shirt and sweatpants. "Hal?"

"Carol, I need to see your dad."

"Wh- huh?"

"Let me talk to your dad."

"Why?"

"Carol, I think you should know why," I said, inviting myself in.

"Um, no, I don't," she said, stopping me. "What do want to talk to him for?"

"About my dad. What happened ten years ago."

Carol paused and looked at me for a moment. "Hal, you can't-"

"Why not?"

"Because he's- he's-"

"He's what?! Too much of an arrogant prick to talk to anyone?!" I snapped.

"What?"

"Carol, your father practically killed mine!"

"Don't say that!" she yelled back at me.

"Well it's true, isn't it? Your dad knew there was something wrong with the plane. And my dad died because of it. I want to talk to him, now!"

Carol just looked at me, stunned and silent. She sighed and quietly told me to follow her. Going upstairs, she knocked on her father's door. "Daddy?"

"Come in; it's open," his voice answered.

As soon as she crept the door open, I barged in, furiously saying, "Alright Carl, I have some words-!" But all I saw was an old man, laying in his bed struggling to get up. His hair was graying and the middle-aged man looked like he aged 20 years. "-for you?"

"Ah, Hal, it's been a while since the last time I saw you," Carl smiled weakly. "Carol, do you mind leaving the two of us alone for a minute?" His daughter nodded and closed the door behind me. "Come, sit down."

I sat down on the bed beside him. "Carl?"

"That's me. Wow, you really do look like your father," he noted. "I heard the commotion downstairs. I know why you're here."

"Do you really?"

"Yes. You're here to talk about your father," he said quietly. Then he broke out into a coughing fit. I grabbed the cup of water on his nightstand to help ease it. "Thank you, Hal."

"Now, about my dad…"

"Yes, of course. Hal, I want you to know that your father's death affected me as well. Him and I were a part of the 'Four Musketeers' back in the Air Force. Oh, those were good times…" Carl smiled. "You see, on the day he died, I had poured $15 million and six years into that jet he flew. Investors were watching and yes, I needed to sell it to them. But when the plane crashed, his death haunted me for the rest of my life. I lost my best pilot and my best friend."

Finally, I understood. And I started to regret hating him after he just told me the truth. "I buried myself in my work, and I neglected Carol. I gave her everything she wanted just to get her to shut up. I spoiled her, but at the same time, I think all she wanted was for me to pay attention to her." Carl took a sip of water. "So she got all straight A's, joined the AFJROTC, and even dated several bad boys just to try and get my attention. It… didn't really work."

Huh. Now I could see why Carol kept going back to a guy like me… "But that's beside the point. From what Carol told me, Martin's death didn't just affect you."

"Yeah… it kind of tore the family apart, too…"

"That's unfortunate. I heard what happened to your mother and the falling out between you and Jack. It's quite a shame."

"Yeah…"

Carl put his hand on my shoulder and looked me in the eyes. "Hal, I just wanted you to know how much this has affected everybody who knew him and not just you. So please, just move on. Your father would've wanted it that way." I nodded. God, I feel like a jackass…

* * *

><p>Leaving his room, I walked back downstairs with his words rolling around in my head. I heard sniffling coming from the dining room. It was Carol. She had her hands covering her face and she was trying to hold back gasps.<p>

"Carol?" I said softly. "I'm sorry, I didn't know…"

She turned around to look at me. Her eyes were red and puffy and her cheek was wet with tears. "Of course you wouldn't, Hal. You never took the time to listen to me." I hung my head down and nodded. "It's been hard for me these past years. After your dad died, my dad got so busy in his work that he stopped paying attention to me. With no mom in my life, I tried everything to get him to love me. I did everything I could to impress him and I even acted out of order, but nothing _worked_." During that last part, her voice broke and more tears streamed down her face.

I sat down in the chair next her and held her hand tight. Oh, Carol… "And what's worse is that you come here out of nowhere and accuse him of killing your dad." Alright, I don't need another reminder of how much of an ass I am…

Carol calmed herself down, but as she talked more, short gasps of breath interrupted her speech. "I remember… one thing he said... to me when I was acting out… 'Why can't you be more like Hal?'" I widened my eyes at what she said. "He was jealous about… your relationship with your dad… how close you two were… how ours wasn't like yours…"

Oh, if only he saw how I acted towards everybody else… I pulled Carol in for a hug and held her for a long time. "Carol, I'm so sorry…" I whispered in her ear. I looked into her eyes, wiping the tears off her cheek. "The truth is I haven't been the best person either. Not the best friend, brother, or boyfriend either. There's a lot of stuff I'm going through right now, and I guess I don't really know how to vent it."

"Hal, just tell me. I'm your girlfriend; it's what I'm here for." I opened my mouth, but no words came out. How could I tell her about the Corps, Sinestro, and everything else?

Looking away from her, I let go of her and turned my head towards the ground. "It's a little complicated right now," I said, "but I promise one of these days I'll tell you." I leaned in and kissed her forehead. "Good night, Carol."

* * *

><p>Flying back to Tom's house, I thought about everything that led up to this. When I first got the ring, I didn't know what to do with it. Abin Sur told me that the ring chose me and that I was the one to carry the light, but I didn't believe it. Then Sinestro came to me on Oa, telling me that he was going to train me to use it, master it.<p>

Things were tough at first. Sinestro was a hard teacher, and I only made things harder because I didn't listen to a thing he told me. Listening to authority isn't my best suit. But over the next two years, we built up a close relationship and I started seeing him as a second father to me. He always reeled me in, keeping me grounded, and I always thought that I could trust him. Then I found out what he was doing on Korugar. What he did to his own planet. I helped the people fight against him. We beat him and turned him in to the Guardians, but as he was being taken away, he cursed me and swore revenge on me. Half of me died that day. I was betrayed by someone who I thought was my friend.

Going back to Earth later, I found out that mom was dying soon. I rushed to the hospital to see her before she passed, but Jack stopped me before I could go in her room. He berated me, blaming me for all the stress I caused mom and how I made her die early. Then he disowned me from our family and said Jim was going to live with him now. He slammed the door in my face and locked it as I was practically begging him to let me see mom. It was no use. After ten minutes of begging and crying, I just left. I wasn't even invited to the funeral. The rest of me died that day, and there was nothing but a numb, empty feeling inside me.

Arriving outside my bedroom window, I unlocked it and went inside. Getting out of uniform, I remembered the week after mom died. I didn't show up to school for the rest of the week. My ring stopped working for that time, too. Jill, Tom, and even Carol tried checking in to see if I was alright. Looking through my phone, I scrolled back to the texts they sent me.

**Jillian**: _Hal, r u there? Txt me back, is everything ok? :(_

**Tom**: _Hal, I heard what happened! Come on, let's talk about this_

**Carol**: _OMG, Hal! Im so sorry about your mom! Just wanted to let you know that I love you and Ill be here if u need me 3_

I don't deserve friends like them… I looked at my ring, still disguised as the ring mom gave me. It was the only thing left of her and now it's gone forever. "This too shall pass," it said. Mom told me that it meant that whatever is happening now will pass and life will move on. Even though I still identify as Jewish, I stopped practicing. Hell, I even stopped believing. Maybe I should start again just to honor her.

Looking on my desk, I saw Tom left Jim's gift there. I picked it up and unwrapped it. Seeing what it was, I was pleasantly surprised. It was a framed photo of our family, a few days before dad died. There I was, holding Jim as he looked at the camera curiously. I had the biggest grin on my face. Behind me was dad, his arm around mom, laughing with joy as the two looked down at us. Jack was next to all of us, hands in his pockets and cracking a rare smile that I almost never saw.

On it was a Post-It note saying:

_Happy Birthday, Hal! I hope you like this old photo of us! I miss you very much and I hope you can visit soon!_

_-Jim _

I smiled and my eyes welled up a little as I read that. Oh, Jim, I wish I could. Undressing myself to go to sleep, I set the picture on my desk and got into bed. I took my ring off, which turned back into the standard Corps ring and threw it next to my alarm clock. Turning over and closing my eyes, I felt happier than I did in ages. Finally got that weight off my chest. Guess I'll start making amends tomorrow. Okay, Jim, I'll see you tomorrow…


	5. The Brave (Hal)

**Chapter Summary: For once in a long time, Hal is able to reunite with his younger brother. But the reunion is cut short when Jim is apparently kidnapped by a mysterious energy. (Based on _Flash Annual #2_)**

* * *

><p><strong>The Brave… (Hal)<strong>

Alright, Hal, you can do this… This was the address. Jack's address. I hope he _at least_ lets me take Jim out for the day.

Approaching the door, I rang the doorbell. It was a pretty nice apartment, I'll admit. It looks like one of the higher-end ones; a little surprising 'cause I didn't think he'd be able to afford it, with law school and everything. A young black-haired woman opened the door.

"Hey there," I greeted.

"Hi. Can I help you?"

"Um, yeah. I'm Jack's brother, Hal," I answered. "I was wondering if I could take Jim out for the day, spend some time with him, y'know?"

"Oh…" she responded unsurely. "Jack said a lot of bad things about you. About how you-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. Jack and I never really got along in the past, but I just wanna hang out with my little brother."

"Okay then, I'll go get him." She closed the door and a few moments later she came back with Jim.

"Hal!" he yelled excitedly.

"Hey there, buddy. Here I am," I smiled. "Thank you. What's your name, by the way?"

"Janice, but you can call me Jan," she said. "I'm Jack's girlfriend." So that stick-in-the-mud got a girlfriend? Wow, that's a little hard to believe…

"It's nice to meet you, Jan."

"Jan, who's at the door?" Ah, crap…

The door opened a bit wider and there he was. My older brother, giving me that disapproving look I'm so used to seeing. "Hal."

"Hey, Jack. I hope you don't mind if I take Jim out for a bit."

"No, you're not."

"Come on, man, I just wanna hang out with our little brother," I argued. "Is _that_ so much to ask?"

"_My_ little brother," he corrected me. "You're not part of this family anymore." God, what a douchebag…

"Jack, he misses me and I miss him. Now come on, don't be like this."

"Okay, Jack, why don't you let him?" Jan said. "I know the two of you aren't on good terms, but think about Jim, too." _Thank you._

"But-"

"Come on, Jack," Jim pleaded with his puppy-dog eyes. "_Please?"_

My older brother hesitated for a second, but he relented. "Fine." Jim jumped and cheered and ran back into the house to get ready. Jan smiled before following inside to help. "I want him back by 6, you hear me?"

"No need to be so uptight, Jack," I said, raising my hands in defense. "That's barely enough time to us to enjoy ourselves."

"Fine. 8 o'clock, at the latest. You better have him back by then or-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, just tell Jim I'm waiting in the car," I interrupted, heading back to my car. A few minutes later, Jim jumped in my car and we were off to enjoy the rest of the day.

* * *

><p>"So Jim, what've you been up to?"<p>

"Mmm, nothing much. I got an A on my math test yesterday!"

"Oh, really? Great job!" I congratulated him. "What was it on?"

"Decimals and rounding up."

"Okay. Remember that thing I taught you?" We both sang together, _"Zero to four, you get no more. Five to nine, move up one time!"_ The two of us then bursted into laughter. About ten minutes later, we made our way to In-N-Out.

Now, I don't care what anybody says, In-N-Out makes _the best_ burgers in California. All those East-Coasters that say Five Guys or whatever's burgers are better, they're wrong. They live on the wrong side of the country anyways. Hell, they're so good, they haven't even changed their menu in over 20 years; it's _that_ good.

I ordered the double-double cheeseburger with Animal fries and a large Neapolitan shake. Oh, thank God for that secret menu… Jim just ordered a regular hamburger with regular fries. We both shared the shake. Once our order was ready, we sat at our table and enjoyed the meal.

"Boy, Hal, that's a lot of food," Jim noted, taking a bite into his burger.

"Yeah, it is. But you know, I get really hungry," I replied. Protecting an entire galaxy _does_ work up an appetite.

As the two of us enjoyed our food in silence, I reminisced at our times together before mom died. Whenever he got a good grade in school or he won a soccer game, I'd always let him order whatever he wanted here. Jim was a smart kid, but he did need a lot of help on his homework. I remember I'd always be late to first period because I stayed up so late helping him with homework. Man, why do they assign so much homework nowadays? I mean, 4 hours of homework… for a 5th grader?

"You know, Hal, I wish you still lived with us…" Jim frowned. "Things were so much fun with you."

"Yeah, me too, buddy…" I tried to change the subject, try to lighten the mood. "Hey, why don't we play soccer at the park? I wanna see how much you've improved."

He nodded and as we finished up our food, the two of us drove to the park. Good thing I kept a spare ball in the trunk. Going to an empty field, we started to kick the ball around.

* * *

><p>"<em>Whoo!<em> You're one… slippery guy… Jim," I said to him in between pants. Man, I even broke a sweat. "I can't catch up to you."

Jim was still energetic and up to play. "Yep! They say I'm the best on the team."

"That's good." My ring started to vibrate. It grew hotter to let me know that there was some threat in the area. "Hey Jim, I'll be right back. I need to take care of something real quick."

He nodded and I excused myself around the corner to get a sit rep. "Report."

"_Warning. Alien energies detected in the area._"

"Energies? What kind of energies?"

"_Unknown."_

"Where does it originate from?"

"_Unknown_." Well that's helpful…

I headed back to Jim. "Hey, Jim, I'm gonna take you home now." But he wasn't there. Just the ball. Then I checked the bathrooms. Not there either. I ran around the entire park a couple times just to see if he was anywhere.

I started freaking out. Was he kidnapped?! I switched into uniform and flew into the air. I scanned the area with my ring for any trace of him. "_Not detected_," it responded. Oh, God, oh, God, oh, God…

"Ring, where did you detect that energy?!"

"Energy undetected."

"Scan again! Find any source of unnatural energy!" I screamed. This can't be happening.

After some heart-racing moments, it had a result. "_Otherworldly energy detected_."

"Where!?" It guided me to where said energy was coming from. It was emitting from a person. Flying around, I saw some shady-looking guy standing behind a large bush. He had his hood over his head and was looking around, peering through the bush as if he were waiting for someone. That must be the guy.

I swooped in and thought up a clamp construction around the guy. "_You like stealing kids, huh!?"_

The guy looked at me, wide-eyed and shocked. _"Wait, wait, wait!"_ he yelled frantically.

"_Tell me where he is before I squeeze you like a grape!_"

Suddenly, he was out of the clamp somehow. He pulled down his hood and quickly showed me an ID badge. The guy looked about my age, blond hair, blue eyes, and the badge looked like some sort of police ID. "My name is Barry Allen. I'm a police intern for the Central City Police Department."

Central City? That's like, far… "Okay, so you're like some sort of cop," I said skeptically. "But I'm not buying it. What the hell are you?"

"What?"

"You got out of my construct somehow. How'd you do it? Are you some alien in disguise or something?"

He opened his mouth to answer, but he just stared at me in awe. "Whoa… you're levitating…"

"Seriously though, how did you get out of that?"

"Y'know, I've heard rumors and read conspiracy theories," he babbled on, "but I didn't think you really existed."

Wait, what? "Wait, you've heard of me?"

"Who hasn't heard of Superman?"

"…" Really? "Do I look red and blue with a huge S on my chest?! I'm a Green Lantern!"

"Seriously?" he raised an eyebrow. "…by choice?"

That's it, I'm getting tired of this crap. I grabbed him by the shirt and thought up a huge mallet in my other hand. "Why the hell are you even here anyways?"

He raised both his hands at me, frantically saying, "The same reason you are! To catch the kidnapper!" I loosened my grip on him, but I was waiting to see him pull something. "You must have figured, as I did, that he's going to strike here next."

"Well, he already took a little boy and I'm trying to find him!" I yelled. "Now where is he gonna be?!""

"If my calculations are correct, he should be somewhere around here!"

"I'm still not buying it. You're a long way from Central City, and you're not even a real cop."

"Hey, if there's children involved, or any innocents really, I don't care about-!" A bright orange light then shined though the windows of an abandoned building. That must him.

"Alright, wannabe cop! Stay here!" I said to him before zooming off. I crashed through one of the windows to see a portal in the middle of the room. _Don't worry, Jim, I'm gonna save you!_


	6. and the Bold (Barry)

**Chapter Summary: Going after the Green Lantern, Barry Allen finds himself on a strange alien planet and is forced to fight for his life.**

* * *

><p>…<strong>and the Bold (Barry)<strong>

"Alright, wannabe cop! Stay here!"

"Hey!" Not a chance. I couldn't let him go in there alone. Who knows what's going on in there?

Twisting the top of my ring, my costume sprung out. In less than a second, I was in the suit and racing up the stairs to reach the light source. Wait, what in the-? I stopped to examine the thing in front of me. A rotating, diamond-shaped mirror or window just levitating in the middle of the room. There were rows of beds in here as well, with unloosed belts laying on top of them. Is this where the abducted children were kept? Is that a portal of some kind?

Shoot, it's closing! Man, I hope this isn't a mistake…

* * *

><p>Quickly rushing through it, I found myself in a large hall. Purple carpet, golden pillars, strange atmosphere… where am I?<p>

Hearing yelling and grunting around the corner, I zipped around to see the commotion. Okay, there's Green Lantern beating up some orange aliens with a green hammer and a gatling gun. Alright, I've seen weirder, but this should be a piece of cake. In less than a second, all of the aliens were knocked out on the ground and there I was in front of Green Lantern.

"Don't worry, I'm here to help," I said to him.

"Um, thanks…?" he replied perplexed.

"The Flash. You can call me the Flash."

"Okay then… wait. Barry Allen?"

"No," I denied immediately, "I'm _the Flash_."

"Dude, I literally just talked to like a minute ago. I can recognize your voice."

"Err-" Shoot. "Look, don't tell anybody about this."

"Why would I? I mean, who would recognize a nobody like you?" Wow. Thanks. "Okay here, I'll make things fair. My name is-"

"No!" I objected.

"Okay then, I'll at least show you my face-"

"Seriously, _stop_. We wear masks for a reason."

"Quit making such a big deal about it…" he insisted. "Look, my name is-"

"Stop it already!" What is this guy doing?! "You're not supposed to tell me your secret-!"

"-Hal Jordan," he finished while unmasking. Brown hair, brown eyes, and looks about 17. "Now we're even, _Barry Allen_."

"This is so irrespons-"

"_AAAAAAHHHHHH!"_ A kid's scream rang from further down the hall. The two of us rushed to the source, only to find a bunch of kids in the center of an arena. They were being forced to fight each other by a huge muscular alien.

"Hey, you! Get away from them!" I ran down there and tried to punch him, but he caught me by my arm.

"These children are property of the House of Verus," he growled. "And you shall die!"

He threw me back and tried to pounce on me, but I barely dodged it. Something felt off. I'm not going as fast as I usually am…

He grabbed me again, this time by my torso, and tried to squeeze me to death. Vibrating my body, I burned his hand enough for him to let me go. I punched him about 50 times in a second, but it didn't seem to faze him. The thing swung around and managed to hit me and I skidded all the way to the side of the arena.

He jumped over to where I was and just as he was about to smash me into pudding, a glowing green bus ran him over. "Don't worry, Barry, I got this," Hal said confidently. The bus then morphed into some chains and Lantern threw the guy against the wall, knocking him out.

"You alright there, buddy?" he asked, coming over to help me up.

"My speed…" I pondered as I sorely got back up on my feet. "Where are we?"

"Dunno. But it seems to me whoever's in charge is training the kids to be fighters or something." _The kids!_ I ran over to the group and did a quick headcount. 58 kids. There were 61 missing…

"Hey kids, are you okay? Is anyone hurt?" I asked. I got a mix of nods and head shakes. Some started to cry and said they wanted their parents. "Don't worry, everything's going to be just fine. We'll get you all back home," I reassured them. I turned to Hal and said, "There's three kids missing. I counted 58; there were 61 missing in total."

"Alright then, do any of you know where the _other_ kids are?" he said, skimming through group. Seems like he's looking for someone. "And did one of them have brown hair and glasses?"

One boy spoke up and said, "Yeah, they took him and a couple others to some place called the 'Arena World.' I don't know what they're gonna do with them, though."

"That sounds bad," I remarked. "We've got to find them fast and get these kids to safety."

"I do fast, you do safety!" And then Hal was off.

"Wait!" Okay, never mind, maybe it's for the better. My speed isn't at its best right now and I can't risk anything. Alright, time to find the portal.

* * *

><p>It took some time, but I managed to find the portal device. When we got back to Earth, I took every single kid back to their homes. I just hope Hal's doing okay…<p>

After I dropped the last kid off, I teleported back to the arena and looked for him. After about a few minutes, I found him fighting off three gladiators and he was losing. Bad. Almost like he's holding back…

Lantern managed to drive an axe into one of their arms, but it didn't do much. Wait, I see wiring… They can't just use kids to fight bigger aliens, they'd be crushed in a second… So they have to use some kind of suit or armor! Are those kids inside the gladiators?

Time to test my theory. I ran down there and vibrated through one of them. I saw a kid in a control panel; I was right! I got him out and then I did the same for the other two. The gladiators then shut down and fell to the ground.

"Now _we're_ even, Hal Jordan," I smirked at him.

"Enough," a female voice called out. Out from one of the viewing boxes at the top of the arena came a feminine figure. She looked just like the other aliens we fought, only as a woman. A thinner build with some cleavage, two braids of hair framing her face, very scantily clad, too… "I've heard that humans had such skill and savagery, but _this_ is very impressive," she smirked.

"Yeah, and just who the hell are you?" Hal snapped.

"I am Verus, owner of this arena and the head of the famed House of Verus," she answered.

"What do you want with these kids?" I asked. "I mean, they're too young and weak to fight, so why them?"

"I've invested in humans because of their unique combination of will, ingenuity, and savagery," Verus answered. "With them, I hope to defeat my rival, Priscus, in the Arena. Plus, children are easy to mold and can last a _long_ time."

"You can't do that!"

"Oh, and do you suggest a _better_ solution?"

"Yeah," Hal butted in.

"What?"

"Barry, get the kids back to their homes. Leave this kid back at the park where we met at," he commanded. "I'll negotiate with her."

Reluctantly agreeing, I did what he said and was back in a flash. When I got back, Hal met up with me to explain the deal. "So good news, Verus _won't_ be using any more children to fight in the 'Arena World.'"

"Great!"

"Yeah… bad news is…"

Oh, no. That's not good. "What?"

"_We're_ going to be fighting on behalf of her instead." Wait, what?

* * *

><p>Next thing I knew, we were teleported to a coliseum full of different fighters. Some bigger, some wider, others… not as pretty. Each of them stood behind a flag representing their respective houses, I guess. The crows was cheering and hollering as the contestants stood proudly.<p>

"_We're what?!"_ I said to Hal flabbergasted.

"We are going to be fighting in an intergalactic competition for Verus," he replied casually.

"You committed us to this competition… Do you even have any idea what it entails?"

"Just your run-of-the-mill fighting competition. Every man/robot/monster for him/it/itself," Hal explained. "It's actually oddly similar to a professional wrestling 'battle royal'… except to the death." Then he pointed me over to a hologram of the previous champion. "Oh, and then the winner gets to fight ugly over there, the champion… _also_ to the death."

"You agreed to this without so much as a word to me?!" I yelled at him. "What the hell were you thinking?!"

"Seriously, you think _now_ is the time for this?"

"As opposed to when?! _After_ the death match?!" I retorted. "I'm _not_ going to kill anybody!"

"Hey, I'm not planning to either."

"Well then what happens when they realize we're not cold-blooded killers?"

"We'll deal with it!" Hal argued. "I did what I had to do, and I'm not gonna apologize for it."

"I know, but never following up on it though? You didn't think this through."

"Thinking's overrated. I prefer to _act_."

"Damn it, Hal!" I was getting really frustrated. "_Do you take anything seriously?!"_

"Hey, listen, you have _no idea_ what kind of willpower it takes to be a Lantern!" he argued. "The things I can do with this ring take more _concentration_ and _effort_ than you could ever imagine, _Barry_!"

"Contestants! Ready yourselves!" the announcer proclaimed. "May the best fighter win!"

"Alright, I think I have enough charge to last us the whole match," Hal said. "How's your speed?"

"Kinda funky. This atmosphere seems to be affecting it-"

"Whatever, it's good enough," Lantern interrupted.

"On your mark!" Here we go… "Get set!" Alright Barry, focus… "_Battle!"_

* * *

><p>The match was long and intense. All the other fighters were slaughtering each other left and right. Hal took on the bigger opponents while I took on the smaller ones. He created a multitude of different constructs, ranging from gatling guns to shields to even jets and mechas, and took down his opponents with ease.<p>

Meanwhile, I had a harder time. Taking more normal-sized guys was still pretty easy, but as the match went on I felt myself going slower and slower. It got harder to keep up and dodge every attack, and everybody else was starting to get faster too.

'_The things I can do with this ring take more concentration and effort than you could ever imagine?' _Seriously? It doesn't seem like a guy like him could ever be worthy of being a space cop or whatever he is…

Eventually, we managed to knock out every other fighter in the arena. It took a lot more work, but at least we didn't kill them. As soon as we took down the last guy, the crowd booed at us.

"They're booing at us…" Hal noted.

"I've noticed," I responded.

Verus stepped out and announced to us, "Only one of you may fight the Champion of the House Priscus. The two of you gave a rather underwhelming performance by not eliminating the other contestants _properly_. So now, one of you have to die in order to proceed."

"No way, Verus!" Hal refused. "I'm not going to fight or kill Barry!" The crowd grew more restless and booed us even harder. Some even started to throw stuff at us for not giving a good show.

"Enough," a voice said. Out came from the other side of the arena was a purple alien with a mark branded on its chest. "I shall deal with this myself." It snapped its fingers and some kind of material wrapped around Hal. It tightened around him and squeezed him.

"_Gah!"_ Hal gasped before falling to the ground.

"Hal!" I rushed over to check if he was okay.

"_I'm alright… just a lil' snug for me…"_

"And now there was one," the alien quipped. "Is your warrior ready to face mine, Verus?"

"Yes, he is, Priscus. And he _won't_ disappoint us, now will he?" Damn you, Verus…

"Very well then. Release the Champion." A bright orange light appeared on the field and started taking the form of a gigantic beast before materializing. The Champion looked like a big, purple rhino/bug thingy with three eyes. It had the Mark of Priscus on its chest and it brandished two axes in both of its hands.

"Fighters ready?" said the announcer. Oh, boy. "Begin!"

Immediately, the thing roared and ran towards me at full speed. I managed to dodge it, but now I'm running at half my normal speed. This is bad. Really bad. I grabbed some weapons from the fallen warriors and tried flanking him. It didn't do much, plus he ended up breaking them in one swipe anyways.

Okay, new tactic. If I keep making him miss, maybe he'll tire out before I- "Don't have… much left… Gotta do something quick… or we'll both be dead," I panted, falling to the ground in near-exhaustion. "Think, Barry, _think_…"

"_Thinking's… overrated_…" Hal strained out. He raised his right hand and his ring started to glow.

"Uh, Hal?"

"_Barry Allen of Earth_," his ring spoke as it slid off his finger and came towards me, "_You have the ability to outrun great fear_." Then it slid onto my finger.

"Hal… I thought only you could use the ring."

"_Hey… my ring… my rules_," he strained out.

"But how do I use it? I don't kn-"

"_Just improvise_," he responded. "_Don't worry. You got this_."

That thing wasn't wasting anytime and so it charged at us again. Oh, God, oh, God, oh, God, what do I do?! Barry, just think!

Time seemed to slow down around me. I sped up my thought process and tried to figure this ring out. In turn, it flooded my mind with tons of information. The Guardians of the Universe… the Green Lantern Corps… concentration and willpower…

Okay, I've got the basics down. Now what to do? Boxing gloves? Maybe I can try and- No, I could barely keep us with him now… Maybe I can just take Hal and fly out of here? Actually, no, bad idea. A mech suit probably? No, I can't think up something that big, plus the ring seems to be running low on power… Wait, of course! Why didn't I think of this before?

"Ring, what's this guy's weakness?" I asked it.

"Scanning…" it responded. Come on, hurry… The Champion was closing in on us. "Weakness found." Sweet.

I thought up a simple hand-cannon and rushed towards the beast. _Got to time this just right…_ The distance was closing in between the two of us. _Almost there_… We're about a few feet away from each other now. _And… now!_

I slid underneath the alien right between his legs and prepped the cannon. Hope this works. Ready… aim… _fire_! I screamed out in pain as I shot the intended target. Oh. My. God. That single shot took all of the energy out of me. It felt like all of my strength got sapped into that one shot and I nearly collapsed after that.

The alien toppled over and fell unconscious. There was a brief silence in the crowd before it erupted into cheers, screams and hollers. Hal was now free from whatever was holding him and the ring returned to him.

"Barry… did you… shoot him in the crotch?" he asked.

"Well, that's where the ring said his weakness was," I chuckled half-heartedly.

"Heh… _nice_."

At that moment, the roof exploded and several figures flew in from the entry hole. That looked like Green Lanterns, with the uniforms and everything. A bird/fish-like alien announced, "By order of the Green Lantern, you are _all_ under arrest."

The other Lanterns created domes over the audience and the members of the Houses to prevent them from escaping. A giant pig-like alien landed near the two of us to check on us.

"Nice job, poozer," he chuckled. "We've been trying to find these illegal death-matches for a while now, and you lead us right to them."

"Don't give me all the credit here, Kilowog," Hal laughed, picking himself up. "I had a little help," he said, glancing in my direction. And that's about as much as I remember before passing out from exhaustion.

* * *

><p>The next sensation I felt was a very cold splash to the face. It woke me up almost immediately and I shot up to see where I was. I was behind some bushes and trees with my mask down. It was nighttime and the area was illuminated by the street lamps and partially the moon. I looked around and saw Hal, out of costume and smirking with a bucket construct over me.<p>

"'Bout time you woke," he said. "I was almost gonna kick you just to wake you up."

"Thanks," I said flatly.

"Y'know, I just wanted to say thanks for helping me out."

"Not a problem. Just trying to be a Good Samaritan."

"Well, thanks to you, my lil' brother is safe and back at home. It took some explaining and convincing to make him think that it was all just a bad dream, but I did it."

"So that's why you went after those kids?"

"Mmm, the other kids weren't originally part of the plan, but hey, at least they're safe and sound, too."

"Heh, well I'm glad I ran into you," I chuckled. "I would've never been able to take those aliens on without your help."

"You got that right."

"Hey, and I'm sorry."

"For what?" Hal said, raising an eyebrow.

"The whole time, I just thought you were some arrogant douche who just didn't seem fit to use that magic ring of yours," I explained. "It wasn't until I used it myself when I realized, yeah, you _do_ need some real focus and power to use it."

"You got that right," Hal smirked.

"When you use the ring, does it ever just drain you? Like suck out all of your strength and energy just to make or maintain those constructs of yours."

"_Every single time_," he boasted.

"Damn…"

"Well Barry, you seem like a cool dude. You from Central City, you say?"

"Yep."

"Huh. Well, we should keep in contact. Maybe hang out sometime?"

"Sure, why not?" I chuckled. We exchanged phone numbers and chatted for a bit more.

"So how can you run so fast?" Hal wondered.

"It's a long story," I said. "Maybe I'll tell you another time."

"Hmm. How about, say… this weekend?"

"Are you asking me out on a date?" I teased.

"Sure, buddy, _sure_," Hal said back. "But just so you know, I do have a girlfriend, so don't try making any moves on me."

"Don't need to. I've got a beautiful girl back home myself."

"Heh, _you've got a girl, too?_ Gee, I wonder who'd actually date _you_."

"Screw you, Hal."

"Hey, you gotta _at least_ buy me dinner first before you screw me." The two of us laughed and went our separate ways. You know, Hal doesn't seem like that bad of a guy. I mean, he's _still_ an arrogant douchebag, but a likeable one, I'd say.

I slipped my mask back on and test out my speed. Everything seems back to normal. Alright Central City, here I come.


	7. Secrets (Bruce)

**Chapter Summary: The big secret is out. When Clark finds out about Bruce's other identity, how will this change things between the future World's Finest duo?**

* * *

><p><strong>Secrets (Bruce)<strong>

_Damn it_. This isn't good. Clark knows my secret. He knows I'm _Batman_.

The _one time_ I decide to get back in the costume is when everything seems to go wrong. It's been a few months since I've last suited up and it was driving me nuts. I was never the type to sit idly by and do nothing. Alfred told me that things in Gotham were going well. I guess Lieutenant Gordon does have everything under control. But he did tell me about a string of robberies occurring throughout multiple banks. Security guards from all the banks say they saw a cat burglar, and they mean a _literal_ cat burglar, stealing priceless jewelry. I'll have to look into that when I get back.

As for Smallville, I swear almost nothing happens around here. Besides that _thing_ that attacked Clark the other night, there haven't been any disturbances since then. _Damn it, I need to focus!_ How do I confront him about this?!

* * *

><p>It was supposed to be a simple job. Stop the burglars from robbing the general store and get out. But then a familiar figure in red and blue showed up, just as I was in the middle of tying up the crooks.<p>

"Batman," Clark said in a serious tone. "What are you doing back here?"

"Taking care of this problem for you," I responded. "_You're welcome_." I dropped a smoke bomb and tried to escape, but he just blew the smoke away.

"You have to have a pretty good reason for being here. So I'll ask again: _what are you doing here?"_ he said sternly, crossing his arms.

I didn't respond to his question. Instead, I threw a flashbang in his face and rushed out the store. Assuming he has heightened senses, that should've crippled him for more than a few moments. I ran towards my motorcycle, but in a flash Clark was in front of me.

"Y'know, I heard you were crazy," he said rubbing his eyes and picking his ears, "but I didn't think you were _stupid_ either." I needed to get away from him. I pulled out my grapple gun and hooked on a nearby building while throwing some more flash grenades at him. But as soon as I reached the top, there he was again. "Is it really that hard to answer a simple question?"

"I have nothing to say to you," I growled.

"Well, when a man with a rather _dubious_ reputation like yours is out in the middle of Kansas instead of Gotham, a guy has to ask questions." In a last-minute attempt to ditch, I punched him in the face. _God, that was a mistake_. The Kevlar absorbed some of the damage, but still, it was like punching a brick wall.

"You're lucky I rolled my head or else you would've shattered your hand," he told me. "Well, I guess since you're not complying, let's just see who you really are." Clark then squinted his eyes at me and they gleamed a silvery light. A second later, his expression changed to a look of shock and surprise. "_Bruce?_" I heard him mutter under his breath.

"Looks like the secret's out, isn't it, _Clark_?" I guess the revelation shocked him enough that he didn't try to stop me as I made my getaway back to the farm. Oh, I have a lot to explain…

* * *

><p>Recounting that event over and over again in my head, I began thinking of scenarios in my head in the case that we ran into each other next time. I checked my knuckles for damages; slightly bruised, but noticeable if you looked hard enough. Guess I know how tough he is now.<p>

Should I just not talk to him for a while? No, eventually, we're going to have to address the big elephant in the room… I mean, the semester ends in a couple weeks; maybe I could pull it off until then... But people might get suspicious if the two of us suddenly stopped speaking to each other. I could say the two of us got into a huge fight and-

_Knock, knock!_ That must be him. I took a deep breath and prepared for the worst. Slowly turning the doorknob and opening the door, I breathed a little easier seeing it was Mr. Kent.

"Hey there, John," I said.

"Hey Bruce. Dinner's gonna be ready in five minutes. Come down and help set up," the older blond man told me. Leaving my room and heading down the hall, I ran into none other than…

"Clark."

"Bruce," the farm boy responded. The two of us stood awkwardly in the hall for the longest time, just eyeing at each other. Neither of us really knew what to say; we just waited there for the other to say something.

"Hurry up, boys!" Martha called. Quickly, we both went downstairs, helped set up the table and had dinner.

It was painfully awkward, to say the least. I was too stressed and lost my appetite, so I was just sitting there and picking at my food. Clark was doing the same as well, occasionally glancing up at me. His parents must have noticed something was wrong when he wasn't eating his favorite food.

"Is something the matter, sweetie?" Martha asked in a concerned voice. "You're not eating your beef bourguignon."

"Oh, just thinking, Ma," he said. "I'll eat it."

"Hey Bruce, what happened to your hand?" he pointed out.

"I banged it against the wall upstairs," I lied. "It's really nothing."

"Well it doesn't look like nothing. You'd have to have banged it pretty hard to get those bruises."

"It's fine, really," I reassured him. The rest of the dinner went pretty slowly from my perspective. John and Martha had their own conversation and were too preoccupied to notice our abnormal behavior. Clark was eating his dish so that he wouldn't raise suspicion, but from the looks of it he wasn't enjoying the food that much. I quickly excused myself from the table, saying I had homework to finish.

Running upstairs, I sat on my bed and waited in anticipation. Sooner or later, he'd come to face me about it; Clark was never the type to beat around the bush. And just as I thought, the bespectacled was knocking on my door about ten minutes later.

Opening the door, the two of us stared at each other. "Hey…" Clark said nervously.

"Hey," I replied cautiously.

"Can I… come in?"

"Sure. I guess there's no point in putting this off any longer." Closing the door and turning around to face him, I said, "So… I'm sure you have some questions."

"Yeah…"

"Fine, just as long as you can answer mine."

He nodded. "How long have you known that—?"

"You were Superman? Or what is it that you go by?"

"'Superman' is fine."

"A few days before I arrived in Smallville. One of the surveillance cameras in Gotham picked you up as you were saving that guy from the mugger. I zoomed in and got a close-up of your face, so I deduced that it was you the second I met you," I explained.

"Okay then. Did you come here just to spy on me?"

"That wasn't my initial goal. Alfred did send me here because I did have problems in school. It was just pure coincidence that I happened to stay with you."

"So you _were_ spying on me?"

"I kept close tabs on you, just to make sure you weren't here to invade the Earth or something. Any person with that kind of power would be tempted to." I saw him clench his jaw and looked slightly offended by that statement. I got to know him over the course of this semester and I know he wouldn't be that kind of person, but you can never be too careful.

"Okay, that's all I have to ask," Clark said. "Now it's your turn."

"Alright then. What exactly are you?"

"I'm an alien from the planet Krypton; the last of my kind actually."

"How are you able to do all of these incredible feats."

"The Earth's gravity is lighter than Krypton's, so since my body is different from that of a regular person, that's how I can fly, run fast, and lift things 100 times my weight," he explained. "My body also absorbs sunlight, which allows me to shoot lasers out of my eyes and see through walls and stuff."

"Interesting," I noted. "Why are you here exactly? There has to be a reason you were sent here."

"From what my parents told me, my _real_ parents, they said that Krypton was on the verge of exploding. They wanted me to survive, so they put me on a spaceship and sent me to Earth when I was just a baby," Clark recalled. "When it crashed, that's when my Ma and Pa found me and raised me. To be honest, I don't consider myself to be Kryptonian; I feel more like a human than anything else."

That definitely sounds like something Clark would say. At least maybe I won't have to worry too much about him taking over the world. "So why become Superman?"

"I figured since I have these powers, why not do some good?" he shrugged. "So Ma made me the suit and the rest is history. By the way, was my disguise really that obvious?"

"For me," I answered. "I've trained for the past decade to hone my skills and become a stronger man. One of those skills is being a detective."

"Huh…"

"But your disguise is convincing, though. Slouching your shoulders and wearing loose clothes to hide your muscles, stuttering and speaking in a softer tone, wearing glasses; to any regular person, no one would suspect that you're Superman."

"So… what now?" Clark asked.

"Now, we forget that this ever happened and when I move back to Gotham, it's best that we cut contact with each other."

"_WHAT!?_" Clark yelled in disbelief. "Bruce, if you're worried about me telling your secret, I promise you-"

"I know you won't, Clark. Even if you did, no one would believe you anyways."

"So why end our friendship?!"

"For my profession, as Batman, I can't really have close ties to others," I told him. "This is my own personal crusade and it requires me to do this alone."

"Okay, Bruce, you're just talking nonsense now."

"Look, you do your own thing and I'll do mine. It's as simple as that."

"Okay, you lost me," Clark responded. "I think people working together would be more beneficial. Come on, the two of us working together, it'd be better than-"

"Clark, I've been working alone since the start. It's always worked that way, and it's not going to change."

"Well what if one of these days, you _are_ way in over your head, then what do you do?"

"I doubt that," I said. "Gotham criminals are a superstitious and cowardly lot. All it takes is just me striking fear into hearts and they'll back off eventually."

"But still, you do need some friends-"

"Friendships only hold me back, Clark," I interrupted him. "I don't need any distractions to keep me from doing my job."

Clark took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes in exacerbation. "Bruce, you're just a high school student. You can't just take on all the criminals of one city all by yourself."

"What about you? You practically have the weight of the world on your shoulders," I countered.

"Yeah, but it's different. I just save lives and help others out, and I have the capability to do so. You're just a regular guy waging a war on crime, going up against dangerous people and risking your life for what? A single city," Clark said.

I furrowed my brows at him. "At least I'm contributing to making the world a better place."

"Alright, whatever," Clark said, raising his hands in defense. "We'll pretend this whole thing never happened, but don't think I'm not leaving you alone." I raised my eyebrow at him. "You're not gonna lose me that easily. When you're in over your head, I'll be there to give you a hand. There's no shame in it or anyway."

"Alright, alright. Fine, have it your way," I grudgingly accepted.

"Good. Now you have a good night, and I'll see you in the morning," Clark said. Exiting my room and closing the door behind him, I sighed and changed into my sleepwear. At least it went better than I expected. But I don't plan on having a partnership or anything. Some things are just better off doing alone.


	8. One on One (Clark)

**Chapter Summary: During a college visit, Clark runs into a peculiar person at a restaurant during a dispute. After it is resolved, he decides to interview him to try and understand him. (Based on Superman fan film _One on One_.)**

* * *

><p><strong>One on One (Clark)<strong>

_Aah_… Gosh, this week has been a wild ride. First, I get appointed co-chief editor on the Smallvile Torch, which is good. I've been pining for that position since sophomore year, plus it's a good thing to put on my college application. Then Lana and Pete broke up, which was bad. Apparently, she still does have feelings for me and she felt guilty about using him as a rebound guy to help recover. Oh, I knew something like this was gonna happen…

Then of course, I find out my best friend whose been living with me these past few months is actually a dark, brooding, crime-fighting vigilante with an infamous reputation. I… don't really know how to feel about that. With all this going on, I decided that I needed to clear my head and focus on my future. I have to tour some more colleges and complete the applications.

So far, I've checked off Fawcett City and Keystone from my bucket list. They're both pretty close to home, but I think I need to broaden my horizons. I've heard that UC Irvine and USC are good journalism schools, but the weather I'm not a big fan of. Too hot, plus a lot of California schools have pretty expensive price tags. New York seemed a bit crowded and busy for me, so that's a no. The only schools left on my list are the University of Metropolis and Amnesty Bay University.

* * *

><p>I've gotta say, Amnesty Bay doesn't seem like a bad choice. The campus is nice, the people seem friendly enough, and it's just different. This is the first time I've seen the ocean in real life too, so the sight was mesmerizing. The cold weather isn't something I can't handle, but the smell of seafood and fish is pretty strong, especially since the housing I might be staying in is pretty close to the docks. The price tag is affordable; I think the financial aid and scholarships should cover some of it.<p>

After the school tour, I went and explored some places of interest. Flying up into the sky, I did a quick scan around. There's a lighthouse, some beaches, the fishing docks and an aquarium. Not bad, I guess.

Now that I think about it, I'm craving some food right now. The tour guide said that a popular restaurant in town was The Cannery, near the pier. Hmm, it's worth a shot; always wondered how seafood tasted like.

Zooming over to the place, I walked inside and took in the surroundings. There was a bar near the back of the restaurant, some nets and fishing gear decorating the walls, and a fish tank full of lobsters and crabs. There were booths lined up against the windows and wooden tables and chair spread around. There was the smell of fish, though more pleasant-smelling than strong. Not a big restaurant, but enough to cater a lot of people.

I approached the bar counter and sat on a stool. It was just me, a bunch of sailors and some college frat boys; all of them drunk from what I can tell. A sandy-haired waitress came out from the back and came to take my order.

"Hi, welcome to The Cannery. How can I help you?" she said. She seemed really tired and a little irritated from the looks of things.

"Uh, yes. I'm not from around and I've actually never eaten seafood before, so can you recommend me some food?"

"_Never_ eaten seafood?" she raised an eyebrow. "Where are you from?"

"Kansas, ma'am," I replied. "Just here to tour the university."

"Huh. Well, we have clam chowder, fish-and-chips, lobster and crab. We also have a variety of fish items if you look here," she told me, showing me the menu. I read her name tag while she was suggesting me food. It read "Erika."

"Thank you, _Erika_?" I said cautiously, not wanting to annoy her even more than she is now.

"That's my name," she said flatly.

"Long day at work?"

"Yeah…" Erika sighed. "It was a really busy shift today, plus I had to deal with those drunks over there the whole night."

"Ah. I see. 'Cause I saw you seemed a little irritated, so I didn't wanna bother you or anything."

"Oh, no, it's okay," she gave me a half-hearted smile. "It's what I have to deal with every night."

"Well, I don't think you should have to deal with that kind of harassment."

"Oh, if only there were more guys like you," Erika chuckled. "You need a minute to decide?"

"Uh, yes, please." I looked over the menu for a little while longer when the door rang as it opened. I didn't really think much of it at first, but Erika seemed to.

"Artie?!" she yelled excitedly. Her whole demeanor changed and she had a big smile on her face. I turned around to see who it was. Some guy in joggers, a gray hoodie, and boat shoes. He did hear her calling him, but he just ignored her, lowering his head to hide his face. He then took a seat in one of the booths in the corner of the restaurant.

"Friend of yours?" I asked.

"Yeah, he is. Omigod, I haven't seen him in so long!" Erika said excitedly. "Be right back." She left the bar and went over to talk to him. Okay, what to get… Eh, from what the tour guides said, clam chowder and fish-and-chips are a staple around here… I guess I'll try that.

I turned around to look at Erika and her friend. My super-hearing kicked in and I heard bits and pieces of their conversation. She was happily talking to him and trying to catch up, but all he gave were just short, one-word answers. Seems like he's been gone from here for a while. Eventually, the young waitress came back and I gave my order.

"So how's your friend?" I asked. "He doesn't seem like he's in a good mood."

"Yeah, I guess," Erika frowned. "He dropped out of high school near the beginning of our senior year and he just disappeared until now. I guess all the stress of his dad dying and all the bullying got to him."

"Oh… that's too bad…"

A guy from the other end of the bar whistled at Erika to get her attention. "Hey sweetie! Come over here and sit on my lap! Me and my buddies can show you a good time!" the frat boy slurred as he and his friends laughed. Ugh, that is so not classy…

"_This_ is what I've been dealing with all night…" she groaned. The four guys migrated to our side and pushed me aside to flirt with Erika.

"Come on, girl, why don't you talk to a _real_ man?" one of them snickered, holding her chin.

Erika slapped his hand away and told him, "Quit it. I'm not gonna tell you again."

"You don't have to. Not after I'm done with you," another smiled, groping her butt.

"Hey," I intruded. "She asked you to stop, so can you please leave her alone?"

As soon as I said that, all of them ganged up on me. "_Or what, nerd?"_ One guy took his beer and splashed it in my face while another poured more on top of my head. All of them started laughing and jeering at me, but I didn't budge. "_Well?!"_

The head guy tried to push me, but he only pushed himself back. These guys have no idea that I'm a brick wall, but I need to get out of this situation without anyone getting hurt. All I did was just stand and stare him down; hopefully, he would back off sooner or later.

"Alright then, asshole. Seems you're looking for a fight," he slurred, him and his group getting ready to brawl.

"Yo!" a voice called from behind me. It was Erika's friend. "Leave 'em alone. You boys had too much to drink, so call a cab and get your asses home. Now."

"_The hell you say to me?!"_ The frat boy's attention then turned to the other guy.

"Oh, I'm sorry, let me make things simple for you. Get the hell out of here or _else_," he threatened.

"Hah! Yeah, right," the frat boy sneered. He then threw a punch at Erika's friend. It connected with his face, but then the hooded guy grabbed him by his collar and threw him at a table, shattering it and knocking him out. The rest of the boys jumped on him, one smashing a chair on his back and the others whaling on him. I rushed in to help, but before I could step in, he pleaded for them to stop for a moment.

"Wait, whoa, hold up, hold up!" Erika's friend coughed. He stumbled back onto his feet and tried to regain his balance. Once he did, he took off his hoodie and I finally got a good look at him. He had damp blond hair, deep blue eyes and a scowl on his face. He also wore a slightly tattered white shirt, which accentuated his toned body. I'd also estimate that he's pretty close to my height.

"Alright, guys. Let's go," he challenged, cracking his knuckles.

At once, the remaining three jumped on him. The guy headbutted one of the frats and threw him into another while punching the last one in the face. Recovering from the initial attack, one frat took a mug and smashed it against Artie's head. That was what Erika called him, right…?

Anyway, he didn't take well to that. So he picked the guy up over his head and threw him across the restaurant. He crashed into a bunch of sailors, who proceeded to get angry and violent. Great, just what we needed.

I don't think this one guy can handle eight drunken sailors, so I needed to help out. They all ran towards him, so I tackled some to the ground and then tried to fend off the others. They swung wildly at me, some tried grabbing me, and then others started using surrounding objects as weapons. I didn't want to hurt any of them so I just pushed them away and blocked and dodged all of their hits.

Next thing I knew, a couple unconscious sailors fell on the floor next to me and the one in front of me got a flying kick to the face. "Come on, assholes! Is that all you got?!" Artie yelled. Boy, this guy sure has a huge chip on his shoulder.

I fended off the remaining half of the sailors while he took on the rest. There was something peculiar about this guy. I've never seen anybody who could take a lead pipe, chairs, glass, and punches and still be able to stand. This guy barely has any obvious injuries, aside from a cut lip and a small bruise on his cheek.

I managed to disarm the sailors attacking me and knocked them out by having them hit each other instead. Meanwhile, this other guy was going for it. He was throwing people across the room, slamming them into tables and punching them all out.

"Hey, buddy, calm d-!" I stepped in and tried restraining him, but then he turned around and decked me right in the nose. That hurt _a lot_. It surprised me actually. I held my nose and felt something dripping on my hand. Blood.

"Oh, crap! My ba-!" he tried apologizing, but someone smashed a bottle against his head. Infuriated, he kicked the guy square in the chest and sent him flying into a support beam, knocking him out cold. With that, he took out the last of the sailors.

"Hey… are you okay?" he panted, reaching a hand out to me.

"Yeah. Just fine," I replied, taking his hand. Boy, that really hurt. Nobody's ever really been able to hurt me before, let alone give me a bloody nose.

"Yo, do you need some tissues or something?"

"Uh, sure. By the way, how exactly do you stop a bloody nose? I've never actually had one before."

* * *

><p>"So you pinch the bridge of your nose and tilt you head forward," he instructed me, pinching my nose with some napkins.<p>

"Thanks," I said.

"Artie!" Erika called, running out from the kitchen. "Are you okay?!"

"Yeah, I'm just fine," he said. "Where's the manager around here?"

"He left early tonight," she replied. "That was quite some fight you got into."

"I'm no stranger to getting into scraps, you should know. Why didn't some of the cooks or other guys come to help?"

"Well, you know how drunk people are, especially sailors," Erika sighed.

Artie turned to me and said, "Hey, uh, thanks. For sticking for my friend. Not many guys I know have the balls to stand up to assholes like them."

"Yeah, no problem," I said. "My parents raised me to respect women, so I couldn't just sit there and watch them harass her like that."

"Good man. Oh, and sorry for punching you in the face."

"It quite alright. Just an accident, right?"

"So I feel like I owe you one," he told me. "You want me to pay for your food?"

That gives me an idea. "Actually, can I interview you instead? You see, I'm interested in majoring in journalism, so I need some practice with the interviewing process."

Artie seemed really hesitant. "Um… how about I just pay for your food? I think that'll be enough."

"Please?" I pleaded. "It'll just be ten questions, max. I won't get to personal, I promise."

He stood there for the longest time, considering his options. "Alright," he relented. "Hey, Erika?"

"Yeah?"

He dug through his pocket and pulled out a couple of gold coins. They looked kinda like doubloons, like something pirates would have. "Tell your manager that this should cover the damages and our food. Oh, and tell him to maybe renovate the place if there's money left over."

"But this isn't-"

"Trust me, they're worth a lot. Just tell us when our foods' ready." He then turned to me and walked to a booth for the interview.

"So what's your name?" he asked me.

"Clark. Clark Kent," I introduced myself.

"Hmm. Not a bad name," he noted.

"So Artie-"

"Don't call me that," he interrupted me. "Only my friends call me that."

"Okay then. Wanna start the interview?" I asked.

"Sure. But I have some questions for you."

"Okay, shoot."

"Will you mention my name in this?"

"Not if you don't want to."

"Will you mention where you found me?"

"Will this be published?"

"Only in my school newspaper or not if you don't want to."

"Alright. Let's do this," he said.

"You sure do want to stay anonymous, don't you?" I noted, sitting down on a bench.

"I've had news coverage before. It didn't really work out for me."

"Okay then." I pulled out my phone and opened the microphone app. "Question one: what's your name?"

He smirked. "You said I didn't have to say my name."

"Let me rephrase that: what would you like me to call you? It helps the article."

He thought about it for a bit, and then replied, "Joseph."

"Heh, funny, that's actually my middle name," I laughed. All he gave me was a blank stare. "…right. So do you live around here?"

"Yeah, I was born and raised here."

"So Erika mentioned that you dropped out of high school because of some bullying. Is that true?" I asked, leaving out the part about his dad.

"Yeah. Couldn't really stand it, so I just left."

"So what have you been doing all this time if you're not in school?"

"Just passing by."

"Care to elaborate?"

"Is that a question?"

"That is… question five," I checked.

"I left town a while ago to just be alone. Find myself essentially," 'Joseph' sighed. "Been going through a lot lately and at this point, I really don't know who I am anymore."

Gee, this guy seems to be going through a tough time right now. "So what brings you back to Amnesty Bay?"

"Figured I needed to come back home. Clear my head and hopefully, things start making sense again."

I noticed his belt buckle kinda stood to me for some reason. It looked a little familiar. "So going off topic for moment, I see that you're a fan of that 'Aquaman'?"

He paused for a moment before replying, "You could say that."

"I don't know, from what I've heard, people say he's kind of a joke of a superhero."

'Joseph' clenched his jaw and furrowed his eyebrows. "At least he's not as big of a joke as Superman or Batman…"

"Oh, really? Why do you say that?"

"Well what's there to say? Superman's so stupid, he doesn't even exist…"

"Well, some news outlets would say otherwise."

"Okay, well here's the thing. Some people say that a mysterious blur rescues them when they're in trouble and some conspiracy theorists on the internet say that it was some_body, _a man. The news outlets are dumb enough to believe them and they slap some guy in a costume and say 'This is the guy that saves us!'" he ranted. "Those pictures look so fake; anybody with Photoshop can make it look like he's flying. And even if he were real, I bet he's just some dumb muscle-head who's just full of himself." Ouch.

"And don't even get me started on Batman," he continued. "Do you really expect me to believe that some dude dresses up as a bat and goes around, hopping from building to building, beating random thugs on the street?! I mean, you gotta be kidding me…" Wow, this guy must not be a big fan of me or Bruce… "Nobody's even seen the guy or has a picture of him, so how do we know if he's real or not?!"

"So what makes Aquaman different from them?"

"Because he's _real_!" 'Joseph' yelled. "People have seen him! There's live footage of him rescuing people and helping them, but because of shows like Family Guy and the Big Bang Theory, everyone thinks he's a goddamn joke!"

Wow, he is really passionate about Aquaman… "I don't mean to sound rude or offensive, but why do you like him so much?"

"Because he's the underdog," 'Joseph' sighed. "I relate to him. Compared to the Flash or Wonder Woman, he's the one nobody really cares about. He's the one everybody makes fun of. He's just like me; unappreciated, overlooked, and worthless."

"Don't say that," I tried comforting him. "I think you're more important that you think you are."

"Heh, yeah, right…" he sighed bitterly.

I put my hand on his shoulder and proved him otherwise. "No, I do. And if what you're telling me is true, I think Aquaman matters, too. Regardless of what other people think of him, he's a hero. He helps people and tries to make the world a better place and that's all that matters. At least to me, it does."

'Joseph' looked at me and smiled. It was a small and subtle one, but I could see it. "Thanks. I really needed to hear that. What question are you on?"

I thought about it a moment. "Ten. That means we're done."

"Well, Clark, you seem like a good guy," he said. "We've only met for a half-hour and already you've proven to be better than most of the people I've met in my life."

"Thanks. I appreciate that." Most of the people in his life, huh? That's pretty saddening. "You know, if you need someone to talk to, I'm always available."

"Nah, it's fine."

"Well from what you've said, it seems to me that you need some more friends, so I insist." I exchanged phone numbers with him and Erika walked out of the restaurant at that moment with our food.

"Okay, well my shift is officially over. I left the coins on my manager's desk with a note so he should know what happened," she said. "Here's your food, sir."

I took the bag from my hand and thanked her. Before I took off, 'Joseph' stopped me. "Hey, Clark?"

"Hmm?"

"You mind putting this off-the-record?"

"Uh, sure. What is it?"

He extended his hand to shake mine and said, "The name's Arthur. Arthur Curry."

"Well, it's been nice talking with you Arthur," I smiled. "I'll be talking to you soon?"

"Sure."

"Alright then, you two have a good night now." And with that, I left the pier and flew back home once I was out of sight. I'll say, he kinda reminds me of Bruce. Just the personality, I guess. I do wonder about Arthur, though. During the bar fight, he seemed to just toss around all those guys like nothing, and he even gave me a bloody nose. Something about him doesn't seem quite normal. Eh, whatever, I'll probably figure it out once I get to know him more. In the meantime, this chowder smells really good. I can't wait to try out this seafood for the first time.


	9. Old Friend (Arthur)

**Chapter Summary: Now back in his hometown of Amnesty Bay, the young Atlantean runs into an old friend from the past.**

* * *

><p><strong>Old Friend (Arthur)<strong>

"You need a ride home, Artie?" Erika asked me.

"Uh, sure," I replied. The two of us walked down the pier to her car. On the way, we started to catch up, see what I've missed these past months.

"So Artie, is it true?" she asked. "Did you actually find Atlantis?"

"Yeah," I responded flatly.

"So how's it like? I bet it must have been amazing!"

"Eh…" I hesitated to respond to that. "Yeah, I guess."

"Why? What's wrong?"

"Well, as soon as I showed up, they threw me in prison because of my blond hair."

"What?! Why?!"

"Apparently, they mentioned some prophecy about a blond-haired outsider that will bring the destruction of Atlantis," I explained. "So when they saw me, their first reaction was to throw me in jail and kill me."

"Oh…" Erika tried to change the subject. "Did you find your mom? You dad wanted you to look for her, right?"

"Yeah, I found her… then she and the king got assassinated and I was accused of killing them, so then they tried to kill me for it."

"Oh, Arthur… I'm so sorry," Erika sympathized with me. We got to her car and so we exited the parking lot.

"I don't know, Erika… what did I do to deserve this?" I wondered, rubbing my face. "All my life, people have just been giving me crap and putting me down. It got even worse when people found out what I _really_ am. And just when I thought I found a place where I do belong, they hate me and want me dead."

Erika didn't really know what to say about that. She just gave me a sad look and gave me a hug once we were at a stoplight. "You know, they buried your dad while you were gone. I could show you where his grave is."

"Sure. I'd like that." Stupid news and paparazzi… couldn't even leave me alone to attend my own father's funeral… It's all because of…

"_Shin_. Where is he?"

"Who?"

"Stephen Shin. What's he up to now?" I asked bitterly.

"Well after you went away, his reputation went down the drain. People started calling him 'crazy' and 'delusional' for thinking Atlantis was real," Erika told me. "Now he just holes himself in his house and nobody's seen him since."

"_Good_. He deserves it."

"You know, Danny feels really bad about uploading that video of you… doing the _thing_," Erika sighed.

"It's not his fault. I mean, it's not every day you find a guy that can breathe underwater and lift a plane out of the ocean…"

"On the bright side, it shows that Aquaman's not useless, right?"

"Yeah, well, people tend to ignore that kind of stuff. Saturday Night Live, Conan O'Brien, Family Guy, all those shows is what people pay attention to." There was a long, awkward pause after that. I stared out the window while Erika focused on driving.

"So… how's school?" I broke the silence.

"It's going well," Erika answered. "AP's are _killing_ me and plus, y'know, college apps."

"Huh."

"All of us miss you, though. Me, Danny, Austin, and the rest of the gang."

"Oh. I never realized that I was leaving some people behind…"

"It's okay. The good thing is that you're here now, right?" Erika smiled.

"Yeah…" I'm not sure how long I'm going to stay in Amnesty, though. Pretty soon Orm and Vulko will send some guards to look for me. Or maybe the guards won't. Most of the Atlanteans are too scared to even set foot on land and they'll probably be glad that I'm gone.

"So how're things in Atlantis? They're still not trying to kill you, are they?" Erika asked.

"No, not really. I found out I have a half-brother, whose pretty happy to see me. My mom's old advisor is also keeping me safe from the fanatics, so I guess the two of them are the only things keeping the Atlanteans from feeding me to the Kraken."

"Oh… that's nice."

* * *

><p>Finally, we arrived at the lighthouse, my home. "Your dad's grave is near the rocks, right next the lighthouse."<p>

"Thanks, Erika."

"Hey, are you gonna be sticking around here for a while?"

"Can't guarantee that I will."

"Well, just in case you do, you mind if I invite the gang over and hang out? It'll just be like old times."

"Um… sure, why not?"

"Great. We'll see you this weekend, okay? Have a good night, Arthur." As she drove off, I went to see my dad's grave. I saw his headstone near the lighthouse, above the rocks like Erika said. It read "_Thomas Curry. Beloved friend, father and lighthouse keeper."_ I kneel down in front of it and put my head against it.

"Hey, dad," I greeted it. "I did what you asked. I found mom and told her that you never stopped loving her. Hope you two are happy wherever you guys are now." I stayed there for a little while longer before heading inside. I took the key under the doormat and unlocked the front door.

Heading inside, I threw my jacket on couch and set the food on the kitchen counter. Washing my face in the sink, I heard some sounds coming from upstairs. Listening more carefully, I noticed that they were light footsteps. The sounds then stopped. I waited for a few more moments, but still nothing.

Slowly making my way upstairs, I blinked a few times to adjust to the dark. Spending all that time under the ocean really helped my night-vision. Creeping towards the corner, I peered down the hall to see if anyone was there. I saw the outline of someone in my room. Whoever it was, they exited it and started tip-toeing down the hall.

Waiting patiently behind the corner, I grabbed them and slammed them on the ground. "Gotcha!"

But they threw me off and recovered quickly. The figure then ran towards me at break-neck speed and held against the wall. "The Trident! Where is it?" a female voice said.

I kicked her off of me and hopped off the staircase downstairs. "Who are you?"

"That is none of your concern. Surrender the Trident immediately!" she demanded. "You do not know the power it possesses!"

I bet it's one of those crazy Atlantean fanatics. "You want the Trident!?" I took the pendant off my neck and morphed it into the 6-foot long, golden weapon. "_Come and get it!"_

She hopped off the upstairs floor and tried to land on me. I managed to dodge it, but she kicked me from behind and knocked me off balance. She reached in and grabbed the handle of the Trident, but I pulled myself forward and used my weight to push her to the ground.

The assailant fell to the ground, but she quickly rolled to the side before I could land on top of her. Damn, she's good. I hope a few months of Atlantean combat training will last me.

"Please, I do not wish to fight you. Just hand over the Trident and I will leave you alone," she said.

"Sorry, lady. I earned this trident and I'm not just gonna give over to some thief that easily," I countered.

"Very well then." She then unhooked a rope from her belt and threw it around me. I had no time to dodge, so when it tightened around me, she threw me against the wall. I hit one of the light switches and the lights flickered.

Rolling over and refocusing my vision, I finally saw what the thief looked like. She had olive skin and long, silky black hair from what I could make out. She was also wearing all-black clothing and I'm not gonna lie, she looked _really_ hot, too. When my vision fully came back to me, I looked at her face. Red lips, blue eyes, and a very youthful look overall. Wait a minute…

"Diana?" I called out.

She paused for a moment and looked at me. Her face went from a serious look to realization and then to excitement. "_Arthur?!"_

* * *

><p>I unwrapped myself from the rope and stumbled back on my feet. Diana ran up to me and gave me a tight hug and lifted me into the air. "Arthur! It's so good to see you again!"<p>

"Hey… Diana," I gasped out. "_Too_… _tight_…"

"Ooh, sorry," she said putting me down with a meek smile. "It has been so long."

"Yeah, it has," I said, trying to register what she was doing here. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, after you left Themyscira, I became the champion and representative of the Amazons a couple months later. I was tasked to come to Man's World and protect it from the magical influences that plague it."

"Is breaking into my house and trying to steal my stuff a part of it?"

"No. I sensed the presence of strong magic in this area, so I came to investigate. I realized this presence was of Poseidon's, so I feared that some mortal may have had possession of his Trident."

"That makes sense, I guess." I picked up said weapon and it transformed back into a pendant. "This Trident is from Atlantis. I don't know if Poseidon just left it there, but it's mine now."

"How?"

"Let's just say I saved Atlantis from being crushed by a giant octopus and they let me keep it as a reward. Plus, I now have a giant pet octopus named Topo."

"Oh! So you found the city? What is it like there?" Diana asked excitedly.

"Oh, they reacted just like how the Amazons did. Racist and violently, but instead of me being a man, I was a surface-dweller," I summed it up to her.

"Oh… Well you at least have their respect, right? I mean, you saved their city and plus you are the son of their queen!"

"Yeah, well… I did gain the respect of _some_ of them. Plus I'm the _illegitimate_ _bastard_ son of the queen. That, plus me being a surface-dweller and having blond-hair, which is apparently a bad thing, just gave them more incentive to want me dead," I summed up for her.

"Oh, Arthur… I'm so sorry."

"It's fine. My life can't really get any worse at this point," I said, sitting on the couch. "You want some food?"

Diana nodded and sat down across from me. I took the fish-and-chips and clam chowder from the kitchen and got bowls and spoons for the soup. "So Diana, how long have you been in Man's World for?"

"About four months." She then told me her story about how a plane crashed near Themyscira, how she rescued some guy named Steve Trevor from the wreckage, and how it inspired her to leave the island and explore Man's World. Heh, that takes me back to when I washed up on the island…


	10. Rescue (Arthur)

**Chapter Summary: Flashing back to the past, Arthur recalls his first run-in with an Amazon princess.**

* * *

><p><strong>Rescue (Arthur)<strong>

It was after my confrontation with Black Manta. To look for him, I gathered a ragtag bunch of misfits that also had grudge against Manta and we searched far and wide for him. Eventually, I abandoned them to look for him myself, thinking they were holding me back. Now that I look back on it, I'm pretty ashamed of how I used to act and I wish that I could apologize to them as well. I was so consumed by grief and rage that I wanted to kill the man who took my father away from me.

And I did find him. Somewhere in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, I found his boat. It was pouring rain, pitch black, and the sky was illuminated by the occasional lightning strike. I made my way onto the small ship and barged into the control room. There I killed the man who I thought killed my dad. I grabbed him by his neck, screaming at him and demanding why he killed him as I squeezed my hand around his throat. I watched the life drain from his eyes as I thought my revenge was complete. But I was wrong.

Getting a better look at him, I saw it was an older guy, gray beard and wrinkles. This was not Black Manta. Then the actual one showed up. He saw his dad's lifeless body in my hands and he was _pissed_. He lunged at me, trying to stab me with his knives. I managed to knock him off, but he just got back up and kept going at me. I grabbed a nearby fishing trident and swung at his face with it. I made some pretty deep cuts on his face, but it didn't stop him from trying to kill me.

I jumped out through the window and landed on the deck. He followed after me so I grabbed some nearby barrels and threw them at him. I think one of them hit the engine and it started to leak oil. Manta and I went at it for a while with him gaining the upper hand. Before he could land the finishing blow, the oil caught fire and soon the whole deck was in flames. I took the opportunity to escape, but as I jumped over the railing, Manta shot a harpoon through my leg.

It went all the way through my calf and I fell into the water in searing pain. The last thing I remembered was the boat exploding, Manta screaming and cursing, and me drifting through the sea as boat parts fell into the depths along with me.

* * *

><p>Next thing I knew, I woke up on a beach. I couldn't really move my right leg that much without pain shooting through it, so I needed to get the harpoon out. I didn't have to worry about bleeding out because I healed faster than regular people, even faster when in water. Must be the Atlantean genes.<p>

I gripped the top of the harpoon, held my breath and in one quick move, pulled the thing out of my leg. I screamed out in pain and quickly paced into the water. I panted heavily to try and reduce the pain. Eventually, the pain subsided and my wound healed enough for me to walk around.

I was getting pretty hungry, so I used my "gift" to summon fish to me. I felt kinda bad for leading them to their deaths basically, but a guy has to eat. I used the harpoon to catch some of them and I started a fire to cook them.

While I was roasting them over the flame, I look around me to take in the surroundings. White sand, clear blue waters and a forest in the background. There were mountains further back and the weather was cool. The air was clean and I felt so relaxed here. This place looked so beautiful, it was almost unnatural.

Finishing up all the fish, I took a walk around. I felt a little more at peace since Manta was dead and I finally got some closure for dad's death. The next thing now was to find Atlantis and mom. But how exactly do I find a lost city? I'd be searching for months, hell, _years_ even…

I looked out to the sea and I saw some people out in the water. I faintly made out some bearded guy and a girl. Wait a minute… he was pulling her into the water and they were both naked… _Oh shit!_

I sprinted at full speed towards them. I knew exactly what this creep was gonna do. I leaped a good ten feet towards them and I nailed the guy in the face, _hard_. Thank God for super strength. "Hey asshole! Keep your filthy cock to yourself!"

He recovered from that hit and glared at me. _**"How dare you attack a god, you mere mortal!?" **_he bellowed.

"What the hell are you talking about, you crazy pervert?!"

"_**You will pay for you insolence, child!"**_ He then summoned a silver trident in his hand and grew bigger. His skin turned a bluish-green tint and his hair turned a dark blue color. Seaweed wrapped around his lower area and he grew to at least 20 feet tall. _**"Face the wrath of Triton!"**_

Oh. My. _God_. That's not good. This really not good. He slammed his trident on the ocean floor, creating a huge tidal wave that was coming towards us. I turned to the girl and yelled at her to run back to land. We both ran as fast as we could, but it was too late. The wave caught up to us and dragged us out to sea.

I had no problem breathing underwater, but _she_ couldn't. Scanning around the girl, I found her and swam towards her, but I felt myself being tackled farther away from her. Regaining my balance, I saw the "god" face-to-face with me.

"_**You are not drowning. An Atlantean, perhaps?"**_ He smirked. _**"Hah, then you should know better than to disrespect me! My father is the ruler of your domain!"**_

"_You know what? I don't know who you are and I don't give a damn either!"_ I retorted. Amazingly, I have the ability to speak underwater. But anyways, all I did was just piss him off even more.

He swung at me with his trident, but I dodged and punched him in the eye. While he was distracted, I swam around him, landing hard hits to his stomach, back, and face. At least there's one advantage to being smaller, plus the bigger they are, the harder they fall.

Triton regained his focus and backhanded me, sending me flying. _**"Enough! You have been a thorn in my side for long enough, child!" **_He raised his trident and lightning came out of it. I dodge all of the blast and closed in to grab. I didn't really question why lightning in the water wasn't electrocuting us all, but whatever. I went straight for his crotch, and then grabbed the trident while he was down and stabbed him in the back with it. He screamed out in pain before retreating. Heh, "god" my ass…

_Wait…the girl! I almost forgot!_ I quickly skimmed around for her and recovered her from underwater. I hopped back onto land and laid her gently on the sand. Alright, what was the CPR procedure again?

I shook her shoulder and asked loudly, "Hey, are you okay? Can you hear me?" No response. Okay, I don't have a phone on me, so I'll just start the chest compressions. I did thirty compressions and then went for the breaths. I opened her mouth, tilted her head, pinched her nose and blew two breaths. _1… 2… blow!_

I repeated the process and eventually, she came to. She coughed violently, throwing up water out of her lungs and gasping for air. I held her down gently so that she wouldn't cause more injuries to herself. "Hey, calm down. It's okay, you're safe now," I said softly to her.

At first, the girl looked at me with confusion and disorientation… then she punched me in the face. Recovering from that hit, I saw her running into the forest.

"Wait! I'm not going to hurt you!" I shouted. I chased after her; I didn't want her to injure herself even further just in case. Damn, where did she go? I searched around the thick woods, frantically trying to find her. "Hey! Where are you?"

I mean, she couldn't have gone far. She has to be hiding somewhere. "Look, I know you're scared. You just went through a traumatic experience, but all I want to do is _help_ you." Then I heard some rustling in the bushes behind me. There she is.

But as I turned around, I felt a sharp pain in my right calf. Someone shot an arrow through it. I fell to the ground, screaming in pain. _Same spot, too!_

From out of the trees and bushes, a group of armored women came out, brandishing spears and shields. I waved my hands at them in defense, trying to let them know that I meant no harm. But they didn't listen. One of them just stomped right on my head and that's when I blacked out.

* * *

><p>Waking up again, I found myself tied to a chair with a splitting headache. The arrow was still in my leg, so that stung a lot. I looked up and noticed that I was in front of an assembly of beautiful women. All of them were either glaring at me or looking at me with contempt and shock. A few of them were whispering amongst each other and pointing at me.<p>

All the women were pretty buff, I'll admit. It was as if they were all bodybuilders or something. Many of them were dressed in leather or metal armor, others in togas and robes; it was like they were stuck in the Ancient Greek times.

A tall woman in front of me turned to the crowd and raised her hand to silence them. She had curly black hair, olive skin, and was wearing a purple robe with gold accessories decorating it. She wore a crown and held an eagle staff in one hand and a rope in the other.

The woman turned around and looked straight into my eyes with a cold expression. She threw rope around my neck and tightened it. She then spoke to me in a language I couldn't understand.

"Um… huh?" She repeated what she said before, only in a more stern tone. "I'm sorry, I can't understand you."

The woman paused for a moment before gripping the rope even tighter. It started to glow and finally, she spoke, "State your business here, Atlantean." How did she know I was Atlantean?

"My name is Arthur Curry. I washed up here on this island after fighting a mercenary and escaping from an exploding boat," I confessed. Wait, why did I just say that?!

"Arthur Curry… a peculiar name for an Atlantean," she noted. "What were your intentions with my daughter?"

"What?" That was her daughter?

"My sisters reported seeing you making advances on her while she was unconscious. So I ask again, _what were your intentions with my daughter?"_ she repeated angrily, tightening the rope around my neck.

"_Nothing!_ I was trying to save her! She was about to be raped by some creepy bearded guy, so I saved her!" I gasped out. "After that, he grew bigger and summoned a big wave to drown us, so I used CPR to bring her back to life!"

"C…PR? What does that mean?" she wondered.

"It stands for cardiopulmonary respiration. It's a technique used to rescue drowning victims." The woman paused and looked at me for a moment, then loosened the rope. I drew in a huge breath and breathed easier.

She turned to a group of other women and commanded them to do something. They all nodded and marched out of the hall. "I have sent my sisters to find this man you are describing. There should not be any other man on this island. In the meantime, explain to me your presence here."

"I'm trying to look for my mother, and Atlantis!" I confessed.

"Is it that difficult? Are you not a native Atlantean yourself?"

"No! My mother is Atlantean, my father is human; I'm a hybrid of both species!"

That statement took her aback a little bit, and she looked at me with interest and cautiousness. "An Atlantean… mating with a surface-dweller? Unthinkable…" She took the rope off my neck and called a couple other women to untie me. The woman then had them carry me out somewhere else.

* * *

><p>We arrive to a bathhouse. Setting me down, one of the women roughly put a plank of wood in my mouth and broke off the end of the arrow in my leg. I bit down and winced at the pain and when she pulled it out, I screamed in agony. Twice in one day, in the same spot. Just what I needed.<p>

They pushed me into a pool and immediately the pain went away. Rising out of cool water, I checked my wound and saw that it completely disappeared. "How did-?"

"These springs were a gift to us Amazons from the god Poseidon. Its healing waters completely rejuvenate those who are injured or fatigued. I assume for an Atlantean, its power is twice as effective."

"Thank you. By the way, who are you? And what is this place?"

"I am Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons and ruler of Themyscira," the woman introduced herself. "This is an island of paradise for my fellow sisters and I to train, hunt, and enjoy our time in peace."

"Okay then. How did you know that I was an Atlantean?" I asked.

"You bear the Atlantean crest on your belt," she pointed out. "Rest for now. I will return and show you the way to Atlantis soon. It is the least I can do for you rescuing my daughter."

"Thank you." Hippolyta nodded and left the springs with the other two women.

_Whoo_. Okay, this _cannot_ be real. So she's telling me that I've landed on an island full of women that still worship the Greek gods? And they're actually _real, too_? Ah, whatever. I'm searching for a lost underwater city with mermaids, so I'd better get used to stuff like this.

I started wash myself off in the fountain nearby and I even drank some of it, too. Wow, this water tastes _amazing_. It feels really good on my skin as well. You know what; this seems like a good time for a swim.

I went underneath the water and swam through it, feeling the water rush against my face with every stroke. This was relaxing. Every time I was stressed out or I just needed to think, I'd go for a swim. I flipped over and laid on my back, looking up at the sky from beneath the surface. The water was so clear that I could just look up and see the sun; its rays fluctuating from the ripples.

However, a shadow casted over me. Checking to see what it was, I rose from the pool only to see _her_. It was Hippolyta's daughter, naked and bathing in the fountain as well, staring at me with surprise and wonder.

The two of us locked eyes for a long time. I didn't really know what to do; I was really conflicted at the moment. One part of me was fixated on her because of how pretty she was. Hot damn, now that I got a better look at her, she's like one of, if not _the_ most beautiful girl I've ever seen in my life. But then another side of me wanted to get away from her as soon as possible. Because y'know, I'd rather not get something shot through my leg. _Again_.

So I slowly sunk back into the water… and immediately jetted all the way to the other side. I hopped out and hid myself, hoping she wouldn't find me. I heard her voice calling out for me, in the same language as her mom. If I had to take a guess, it must be Greek, judging from what I've seen.

I stood as still as I could behind some big leaves, carefully looking out for her. After some searching, she eventually passed right by me and just when I thought I was in the clear, I heard a shriek from behind. It startled me, and when I looked around, I saw it was a younger girl who saw me through a column. I put my finger to my lips and waved my other hand frantically, shushing at her to be quiet, but it didn't work. Hippolyta's daughter rushed over and found me and I stood face-to-face with her. Wow, she's a lot taller than I imagined.

"Look, I don't want any trouble," I said to her. "I was trying to save you, not… _y'know_, so please, don't hurt me."

She stared intently at me, observing me with awe and wonder as if she's never seen something like me before. "C… Can you… understand… m-me?" she struggled to pronounce slowly.

"Wait. Can _you_ understand _me_?" I asked. She nodded her head quickly. "Okay then… um, you mind putting something on?"

After putting on her robes, she guided me into a room down the hall. I gotta say, the architecture of this place is absolutely breath-taking. It's like being back in Ancient Greece without all the ruins. The halls are wide open and you can see a view of the island from between the columns. Hippolyta said she was right when she said this was a paradise.

Walking inside, Hippolyta's daughter opened a chest and took out the same rope her mother used to interrogate me. She signaled for me to hold on to it and I did so. It gleamed for a moment before dimming back to its regular form. She then cleared her throat, asking "Is… this better?"

"Yeah," I answered. "At least I can understand you now."

"I am Princess Diana of Themyscira. It is a pleasure to meet you…?"

"Arthur," I said, extending my hand. "Arthur Curry."

She stared blankly at my hand, looking a bit confused. "What are you doing?" she asked.

"Oh- I'm trying to shake your hand," I explained.

"Why?"

"It's a customary thing; to show greeting."

"Oh." Diana awkwardly gripped my hand and shook it violently.

I released it immediately, feeling like she was gonna tear my arm off. "Ow! Okay, not that hard…"

"Your customs are quite strange," she noted.

"Well, you Amazons are kinda behind by like, thousands of years," I replied, rubbing my arm.

"You are of Man's World, correct?"

"Um… I guess?" I shrugged.

"Please, tell me about it," Diana asked, with a glimmer in her eyes.

"Uh, sure. What do you want to know?" She bombarded me with questions, asking me how different everything was over there; how the men and women are like, the different places, the technology we have, etc. I answered each of her questions patiently and the more I answered, the more awestruck she seemed by it.

"Man's World sounds _amazing_! I wish to visit it sometime!" Diana smiled with glee.

"Eh, it might not be as great as I say it is, but it's pretty cool, I guess," I shrugged. "So… the Amazons… how long have you guys been around for?"

"For thousands of years. The goddesses of Olympus have granted my sisters and I this island to live in peace from the harshness and evils of man," Diana told me.

"…so you guys haven't seen a man in like, _that long?"_ I wondered. "Wait, you mean _no man ever washed up on this island before?_ If I'm here, shouldn't that mean there were others?"

"This island is masked by magic and is supposed to be invisible to the rest of the world, so I am not quite sure."

"Then how do guys like, reproduce and all that stuff?"

"We have been gifted with eternal youth. There has been no need for us to procreate."

"Then how are you here? You look pretty young, like around my age."

"My mother molded me out of clay and the goddesses of Olympus breathed life into me, bestowing me with gifts so that I may fit in with the rest of my sisters," she explained.

"Oh… so you were made out of clay… That's… cool," I nodded awkwardly. "Then what about that little girl back there?"

"Donna? Oh, that I am not aware of. Mother told me that she appeared here one day, without any reason or explanation," Diana said. "We have since adopted her into our family and are training her to be a warrior, like the rest of us. She is quite timid though, but we love her nonetheless."

Suddenly, the ground started shaking and we heard explosions coming from the distance. The two of us rushed out to see what was happening. Parts of the city were damaged or destroyed, Amazons were rallying and heading towards the sea, and then there was _him_. Triton.

* * *

><p>Diana led me through a shortcut to the beach where we met up with Hippolyta.<p>

"Diana!" she exclaimed upon seeing us. "Retreat back to the palace! It is not safe here!"

"_**Hippolyta!"**_ Triton bellowed. _**"Surrender your daughter and the Atlantean over to me and no harm shall come to this puny island!"**_

"Now! Retreat!" she warned us again. The queen then marched to face the god and announced, "Leave this place, Triton! You are not welcome here!"

"_**You dare defy me!? I am the son of Poseidon and you will obey me, wench!"**_

"I listen to no man! Not anymore!" she defiantly proclaimed. "You have attempted to violate my daughter, you have killed my sisters, and now you trespass onto my home! I will warn you again; _leave now or face the wrath of the Amazons!"_

"_**Hah! What can you and your whore army do to me!"**_ Triton sneered. _**"I could easily flood this island if I wanted to!"**_

"_HEY, asshole!"_ I shouted at him, brushing past Hippolyta and the Amazons to face him. "You wanted me?! Here I am!"

"_**Ah, so the coward reveals himself."**_

"Look who's talking," I snarked. "Leave the Amazons alone! It's just me you want!"

"_**Oh, defiant to the end. You truly wish to die, do you not mortal?"**_

"You talk a lot of smack for a guy who's about to get his ass kicked," I threatened. "Come shrink down here and fight me like man, if you're not scared."

"_**Hah! Why should I acknowledge your petty request? You are ant, and I am a **_**god**_**."**_

"Alright, you asked for it." I leaped towards him and aimed for his chest, but he caught me and slammed me into the ground. I heard an Amazon battle cry and a rain of fire arrows shot down from the sky. Catapults launched burning debris at the sea god, which distracted him.

Taking a chance, I wiggled free from his grasp and crawled up his arm to his face. There, I started whaling on him, punching and kicking his eyes, nose and cheek. However, he grabbed me off his face and held me in a crushing grip.

"_**You dare challenge me again, child!? Now you face the true wrath of a god!"**_ Triton raised his trident into the air and commanded a bolt of lightning down. When it struck the trident, it released a shockwave and knocked all of the Amazons back. All of the energy then directed towards and I screamed out in excruciating agony. My whole body felt like it was gonna rip itself apart and explode. _**"Do not worry, Atlantean. I'll make sure to make your final moments the worst you have ever felt before I send you off to Hades!"**_

I'm not sure what happened after that, but I felt myself falling. I got caught by someone and rushed over to the sidelines. I focused my wavering vision and saw it was Diana, now geared up in armor and a helmet. She put a cup to my lips and made me drink its contents. Immediately, I felt healed and reenergized.

"My debt to you now has been repaid," Diana said. "Next time, bring a weapon before you think about fighting a god alone."

"Got it. So do you have a plan?" I asked.

Diana pointed at the Triton's trident. "There. That weapon is the source of his power. Once we separate that from him, then we will strike him."

"Alright then, sounds good. I'll try to steal it off of him," I said. "Can you and the Amazons distract him for me?"

Diana nodded. She then kneeled on the ground and prayed. "Gods of Olympus, _give me strength!"_ She drew her sword and shield and ran towards the sea god. I watched her fight while carefully waiting for an opportunity.

The princess gracefully dodged all of the lightning shot at her while slashing the god's hand when he tried to grab her. She tossed her shield at his face, distracting him enough for the Amazons to bombard him with arrows and boulders. Catching the ricocheting shield, she then grabbed a nearby spear and threw it straight at his face. It hit his eye, causing him to scream in pain and loosening his grip on the weapon.

"Now, Arthur!" she commanded me. Taking the chance, I made a running start and launched myself towards the trident. Managing to steal it off of him, the weapon shrunk to fit my size and I felt the power surging through me. "Alright, Triton. Time for some payback…"

Calling down the lightning, I once again jumped towards the disheveled god, digging the trident into his chest. A flash of light then an explosion occurred. I was thrown back onto the beach, skidding across the sand. Diana ran over to me to see if I was okay. But it wasn't over yet.

Triton rose from the sea, severely injured and extremely pissed. _**"You insolent mortals! I have had enough of your defiance! I will wipe Themyscira and the rest of you off the face of this realm!"**_

You know what, I've had just about enough of this guy's crap. While he was rambling on, I used my "gift" to scan the waters for fish. I sensed a herd of whales and called them towards our location.

Triton raised his arms to summon tidal waves to flood the island. Before he got the chance though, two whales jumped up and bit both of his arms. Another pair tackled his legs, knocking him down into the sea. I struggled to maintain my connection with them, but I told the whales to drag him out to the ocean, as far away from here as they can. They obeyed and soon, the sea god was carried away, raving and swearing revenge on us.

The Amazons raised their weapons and cheered. Diana and I looked at each other and smiled, congratulating each other on a job well done. Hippolyta then approached with a surprised and shocked expression on her face. "Orin…"

* * *

><p>By sundown, the Amazons left to treat their wounded and began repairs to their city. I was instructed by Hippolyta to stay near the coast while she retrieved something. Diana stayed to keep me company.<p>

"Whoo, boy, that was _surreal_," I commented. "I guess now I can brag that I took down a _god_."

"_We_ took down a god," Diana corrected me.

"Yeah, right. My bad," I laughed.

"Say, Arthur…"

"Yes, Diana?"

"When you saved me from Triton the first time, you did not take advantage of me. Why is that?"

I wondered what she was trying to say, but then I realized what she meant. I was a little offended and insulted that she would assume that I'd do something like that, so I explained, "Diana, I was raised better than that. I would never do that to any girl, no matter what."

The princess smiled at me. "You truly are the most noble man I have ever met, Arthur Curry."

"Well, technically, I'm the _only_ man you've ever met." We both shared a laugh just as Hippolyta arrived back.

"Thank you for your assistance in the fight against Trident, Orin. The Amazons and I will never forget this," the queen thanked me.

"It's not a problem; I'm happy to help. By the way, Orin?"

"Your name. The name your mother gave you."

"You met my mother?" I asked, surprised.

"Yes. I met her when the Atlantean Royal Family came to Themyscira to discuss a peace treaty between our people. She told me of a son she bore with a surface-dweller and how she misses you very much."

"Huh…"

"Plus, the ability to communicate with sea-life is only inherited by those with the royal blood. That was how I figured out your true heritage."

"So can you show me the way to Atlantis?" I asked. She nodded and handed me a pearl.

"Go into the water and drop this in. Then you will find Atlantis, Orin," Hippolyta explained.

"Thank you," I said. Before I headed out into the water, I said some final words to Diana. "Well… I guess this is it."

"Perhaps it is so," Diana said sadly.

"It's been nice meeting you, Diana. You take care of yourself, okay?"

The princess nodded and held her hand out to me. I stared at it blankly before realizing what she was trying to do. I took her hand and we shook hands, more gently this time. "It is a customary gesture, correct?"

"Yeah. It could be used for goodbyes, too," I said. And with that, I walked out into the water. Taking one last look at the two, I dropped the pearl into the sea like Hippolyta said. The water started to glow and foam and I sunk into it. Next thing I knew, I was in front of a large dome city. This must be it. Atlantis.


	11. Alone (Diana)

**Chapter Summary: The young princess of Themyscira recounts her first impressions of Man's World and the hardships she struggled through while trying to find her place among the people.**

* * *

><p><strong>Alone (Diana)<strong>

"What are you thinking about, Arthur?" I asked, seeing that he was staring off into space.

"Oh, nothing," he replied. "Just remembering the first time we met."

"Ah, I see."

"Your English is getting better. How are you adjusting to Man's World? Is it everything you imagined it would be?"

"Well…" I hesitated. "It's had its ups and downs."

"I told you it probably wouldn't be as good as you'd expect it," Arthur said, taking a bite out of his fish. "Ah, I missed the food here. It's great to finally be back home."

"Yeah… it is, isn't it?" I said with a hint of somberness.

"Is there something wrong, Diana?"

"A little homesick, I guess. That is how you say it, right?"

"Uh, yeah. Look, if you miss home, why don't you come back and visit? I'm sure your mom and the rest of the Amazons miss you too."

"Yes, well…" I sipped some of soup before continuing on. This is very delicious. "I am a little afraid to."

"Afraid? You and I took down a _freakin' god_; you're like one of the toughest girls I've ever met. What do you have to be afraid of?"

"Let's just say that my mother expressed doubts about me travelling to Man's World. She said I was too naïve and that I did not know the true nature of this world," I explained. "I got upset and left to prove her wrong, but as time passed, I realized that maybe she was right."

"Well, not to sound like I'm siding with your mom here, but she does have a point," Arthur said. "Things aren't the same as they were in Ancient Greece. The people change, society changes, and yeah, you've been living on 'paradise island' all your life, so this would be a rude awakening for you." I finished the rest of the soup and hugged my legs to my chest on the couch. "But you're adjusting, right?"

I nodded. "Yes. Slowly, but surely. It has been a tough four months."

* * *

><p>I remember the day after Arthur left Themyscira. I was awed by the tales he told me of Man's World and the wonders it had to offer. For the longest time, I have longed to travel there; to see the sights, to experience life outside of the island. My opportunity came in that fateful plane crash months later.<p>

My sisters and I sensed a dark presence that day. We didn't know what it was at first, but it soon became clear when the skies darkened. Ares had attempted to usurp the throne of Olympus, but his attempt failed. The resulting conflict had caused a nearby plane to malfunction and crash. It also disrupted the magical barrier concealing our home, so the plane crashed into one of the thick forests of the island. Searching through the rubble, I found only one survivor: a boy named Steve Trevor.

Aphrodite, one of the patron goddesses of the Amazons, came to my mother and warned her of Ares' treachery. She explained how the God of War wanted to create more conflict in Man's World in order to fuel and strengthen his power so that he could overthrow Zeus and rule Mount Olympus. Shortly afterwards, my mother held a contest; to send one of our own to Man's World to oppose Ares' influence and bring peace to the world.

Mother strictly forbade me from participating though, fearing that I was neither ready nor capable of facing the harshness of Man's World. This decision upset me, as I was tired of living under my mother's constant supervision. Every other Amazon on Themyscira either treated me like a child or a warrior-in-training; very few of them ever truly treated as an equal.

So when I met Arthur, I was pleasantly surprised at how he was towards me. He didn't objectify me like all my sisters said men would; he was kind and civil towards me. Same with Steve; he tried to make me feel better while I was sulking over my mother's decision. If this is how men would treat me in their world, then it is one that _I_ want to be a part of!

So with the help of my little sister, Donna, she managed to sneak me into the contest. Despite her pleas, I proceeded through all of the challenges with ease, making it into the final round. Thank the gods for their blessings.

In the last challenge, I fought against the most skilled and highly-trained Amazons of the island. I put up a valiant fight, taking them all down one-by-one, knowing their strategies and attack-patterns, and proving my worth as a warrior. They did train me well, after all. When it came time to reveal my identity, I removed my helmet and had the biggest smirk towards my mother. Her expression was of anger, but of pride as well.

When it came time for me to leave the island, the gods granted me with several gifts in order to aid me in my mission to fight Ares. Hephaestus crafted for me a set of armor and a sword to protect myself from his minions. Hermes gave me a pair of his sandals to grant me flight and great speed. The five goddesses of Olympus, barring Hera, awakened my dormant abilities to give me the power to protect the innocent. Finally, my mother gave me the Lasso of Truth, which bound whoever is touching it to speak the truth. With that, I traveled to Man's World with Steve to start my crusade!

* * *

><p>When we arrived back in Steve's hometown in Oklahoma, he had to do a lot of explaining to do. He had to explain to his mother how he survived the crash and what had happened to his father. Unfortunately, he did not survive. His mother was ecstatic though. She embraced him tightly and cried tears of joy to see that her only son was still alive at least.<p>

Steve then explained to her that I was an exchange student from Greece and that I was supposed to live with them for the semester. Honestly, I didn't expect her to believe him so easily, but she was so overjoyed to see him alive and well that she didn't care.

At first, I was puzzled as to why I had to attend school. As a representative of the Amazons, my duty was to relinquish the evils that plague Man's World. But Steve told me that my mother told him that I must also serve as an ambassador so that the Amazons could slowly be reintroduced to their world. In order to do so, I needed to educate myself in the current events and cultures of the rest of the world.

And so, I started my first week of school and I'll admit, it was the most difficult challenge I've ever faced in my life. My English was still considered "archaic" and "formal" by today's standards, plus I didn't know anybody else except for Steve. He tried to arrange for me to be in all of his classes so it'd be easier, but I only ended up in about half of them.

Math was a foreign concept to me. The math I learned when I was a child was completely different from what they were teaching now. I barely managed to grasp some basic concepts, but the rest was so complex that I got lost. In English, I've never heard or read any of the books they assigned aside from the Greek plays and stories. They did excuse me because my "curriculum" was different from theirs, but I was still far behind. PE, I excelled in though. In fact, on the first day, I beat the records of all the girls in school. The coaches said they've never seen anyone like me before. But all of that wasn't the worst part; it was the other students.

Steve recommended that I try to make some friends and create some networks while I was here. So I did. It… went less than _well_, to say the least. The girls were difficult to connect to. All my life, I've conversed with my fellow sisters about training and their daily lives on the island. Here, all they talked about were celebrities on the social media and all this interpersonal drama within their relationships. It was _jarring_ to see all these young women tearing each other down and purposely limiting themselves to gain benefits from men.

Speaking of which, don't get me started on the _men_. I foolishly thought that all the boys would be just like Arthur and Steve. I was so wrong. The things my sisters said about them were true. Every time I'd walk by some of them, they would just make demeaning or superficial comments about my appearance. At first, I thought they were complimenting me, but then I realized what they really meant, and so I got furious. When I confronted them, they claimed they were joking and tried to get me to relax. Their way of doing that was to place their hands all over me.

In retaliation, I simply snatched their arms and twisted them off me. In return, these so-called "gentlemen" tried to attack me, angrily remarking that I should be "grateful" that some guys find me attractive. Taking them down was all child's play, but then I got sent to the office. During the talk with the principal, he had the audacity to say that perhaps it was my fault! I argued that those boys were harassing me, but his defense was that they were "just boys being boys." I couldn't believe what I was hearing, and so I left his office with just a warning.

At lunchtime, I sat where Steve told me he would be and ate my meal while waiting for him. At that point, I finally realized that mother was right. I _am_ too naïve for this world and I'm afraid. I have faced gods and monsters, my fellow sisters who have had _centuries_ of battle-hardened skill and I even defied _my own mother_… but I falter at this. This new world. These new changes. All of my dreams and wonders of this place shattered.

I seriously considered returning to Themyscira in shame and admitting to mother that she was correct, but then I made a new friend. Etta Candy, she said her name was. A rather plump girl with blonde hair and a friendly personality. She said she was a just friend of Steve, but her attitude said otherwise. When he came to sit with us, I noticed her glance dreamingly at him and get flustered whenever he spoke fondly of her. I assumed the two were lovers at first, but she denied it profusely.

Etta said that she has had a crush on him for the longest time, but she was afraid that he wouldn't return her feelings. I was puzzled by this as on the island, whenever one of us had affections for one another, we would just go and tell them. Etta wished it was that easy, but I wasn't taking any of her hesitation. So I approached Steve and asked him if he would ever be romantically involved with her at all. I caught him by surprise with this question, so he responded with indecision and confusion. It took some talking, but I managed to at least get him to take her out on one date.

Today, they have been together for one month. The day they decided to get together, Etta came to me, ecstatic and overjoyed, thanking me profusely and how I've inspired her to be more confident. And that's when it clicked. This was my mission. Not only did I have to become a protector, but I had to become an inspiration. If I wanted to change this world, I needed to motivate and encourage others to take my lead and help me change the world for the better. That was my goal. That is my mission.

* * *

><p>"So you've made quite a name for yourself," Arthur said, cleaning up the empty bowls and tray. "I'll take a wild guess and say that you're the 'Wonder Woman'?"<p>

I nodded. "Yes. Catchy name, isn't it?"

"Yeah, I'd say it has a nice ring to it," he remarked. "You do look pretty good in that costume though."

"It's _armor_, by the way," I corrected him. "Are you just saying that because it shows off my body?"

"Diana, I've seen you naked before. There's not much of you that I haven't seen yet, but what I'm saying is that it shows off what a powerful and awesome person you are."

"Aww, do you really think so?"

"Yeah. I mean, in comparison to _my_ 'costume', it looks pretty rad."

"Oh, yours doesn't look bad at all," I reassured him. "I think your armor elicits a very regal look to it."

"Well, tell that to everybody else. They say I look like some guy out of a medieval town with some bright colors on me," Arthur said. "They think I'm just trying too hard to seem like a badass. God, what a bunch of jerks…"

"Well, don't listen to them. Because they don't know what an amazing person you are," I said to him.

"Y'know, if I had a dollar for every time someone said that, I'd have like, four dollars," the Atlantean chuckled. "But anyway, thanks."

"I must leave now. Is there any way I can contact you?"

"I can give you my number, but I'm rarely ever home now," Arthur shrugged. "You can't really come to Atlantis without drowning or getting thrown in prison, so… nope, I don't think so."

"Oh…"

"But hey, maybe if you pray to Poseidon or whatever, he could just throw me over to wherever you are, right?"

"Yes, I suppose so," I laughed. The two of us then hugged each other goodbye and I left with a sense of happiness. It was nice to see Arthur again; it let me know that I'm not alone in this world. While I still have a long time to adjust to this new world, at least I have friends to help me when I waiver. Steve, Etta, Arthur, Clark… with them, there's nothing I can't accomplish.


	12. Exodus (J'onn)

**Exodus (J'onn)**

My name is J'onn J'onzz. I am the last of my kind; the last of the Martians. Decades ago, I arrived on Earth after millennia of isolation on my home planet. For years, I have imitated the humans, living amongst them and blending into their society. I have adopted this planet as my new home and I will protect it at all cost. I do not wish to have a repeat of Mars.

Today was like any other day. I arrived at the station at 7:00 am and the chief tasked me with a new case. My partner, Diane Meade, was going over some previous cases, so I investigated this all on my own.

The case entailed mysterious disappearances all over the county. Families suddenly gone from their homes, without a trace. The most unusual part of this is that entire neighborhoods have reported to have disappeared without an explanation. There were very little signs of struggle or foul play, so I decided to visit one of the houses and have a closer inspection.

* * *

><p>Here it was. 1955 Samachson Avenue. Nobody was in the area, so I phased into the house and scanned it with my Martian vision. No traces of foul play or any evidence of abduction. Everything in the house was left as it was; television was still on, refrigerator open and running, and a computer finished updating four days ago. Strange, indeed.<p>

Upon further investigation, I did find something peculiar in the master bedroom. A slimy substance on the floor as well as the bed. Could this have something to do with the disappearances?

I kneeled on the floor and attempted to figure out what it was, but then I was ambushed. A screech emitted from the ceiling and when I looked up, a starfish-like creature pounced at me. Quickly changing my density, the creature phased right through me and I quickly incapacitated it with my Martian vision.

So this must be what is causing the disappearances. I lifted with it up using my telekinesis; I could not risk any dangers from physical contact. Perhaps I can read its thoughts and see its motives. Scanning its brainwaves, I felt nothing at first. It was just static, but then I reached something. A mothership or queen, housing millions of these creatures. Inside it was a figure wielding an axe and bearing spiked armor. He had a star-shaped scar on his chest and he was overlooking the planet. Concentrating even harder, I saw hundreds of humans with starfish on their faces, seemingly awaiting for command.

I then realized what was happening. This creature is just a drone or spore used to control people and this being is planning on invading the planet. I couldn't let this happen. Finding a nearby container, I sealed the starfish in and quickly headed home.

* * *

><p>Arriving back at my apartment, I set the creature down on my table and sat down, contemplating what to do next. Taking on the threat all by myself would be a deathwish. Even with my power, I would be overwhelmed and assimilated. As much as I love the human race, they are blissfully ignorant. They would never believe that an alien invasion will occur soon. In addition, their technology is not advanced enough to even fend off the threat.<p>

Perhaps another idea. I have heard reports of new heroes appearing throughout the country in the last eight months. I researched each one of them in-depth and calculated their power and potential: a superhuman who had tremendous strength, speed, and flight, another superhuman with just enhanced speed and agility, a vigilante of a sort situated in Gotham City, often regarded as an urban myth, a couple of supposed Greek warriors; one female and one male who could breathe underwater, and a lightbearer who could conjure up objects through a ring.

Interesting. I must seek them out. If this planet is going to have any chance at surviving, I will need to gather them and convince them to help. The fate of this planet depends on these heroes.


End file.
